


I.Messenger

by fantasia-minhyuk (lilipoppii), lilipoppii, xlilybebe (lilipoppii)



Category: Monsta X (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: College AU, Image Heavy, Multi, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, and crazy.... about whales :D, changkyun is passionate about rice, i'll add more as I remember them..., instant messenger app, joohoney is overprotective, kyunnie is a big flirt, minhyuk is an alcoholic, standing lunch date with jooheon, your roommate ships you with others
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:22:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26176399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilipoppii/pseuds/fantasia-minhyuk, https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilipoppii/pseuds/lilipoppii, https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilipoppii/pseuds/xlilybebe
Summary: There’s a new IMing service being advertised at your school for the sexually frustrated. Seriously, that’s how it’s marketed! You’re definitely not making this up!
Relationships: Im Changkyun | I.M/Original Female Character(s), Im Changkyun | I.M/Reader, Lee Jooheon/Reader, Park Jimin (BTS)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	1. Titty Tuesday

**Author's Note:**

> Hoseok/Hoho/Muscle Bun is Wonho. Hobi is JHope. Just thought I would clarify.
> 
> Crossposted from [tumblr](https://fantasia-minhyuk.tumblr.com/post/627343363705815040/status-in-progress-wc-3700-pairing-changkyun-x).

“OMG!” your roommate screamed as she paused at the door of your shared apartment. She slammed the front door she had just opened to rush to her morning class when her phone had dinged the annoying jingle that had become a widespread problem over your university’s campus. One such ding had come in the middle of your history class, mid-oral report on your part, where the screams and cries of the girls around you ended with you never finishing your report. The professor had been so disturbed by the hindrance he just left the room; granting the whole class C’s for his own sanity.

“He’s going to post a picture of himself!” she screeched again as she rushed towards her room, “I have to change!”

You groan from your bed, having woken up the instant she slammed the door closed in an unusual way compared to her normal rush from the apartment. The repeated screaming of some I.M guy and picture is what kept you awake like your friend had lost any other knowledge in her mind as you heard her scrambling around in her bedroom just next to yours. With a huff, you remove yourself from the comfort of your bed and make your way to her room, stopping just outside the door, “What the hell are you talking about now?”

“I.M! The owner of I.Messenger! He’s going to post a picture of himself if enough girls go braless today!”

She had pulled off her shirt and bra in front of you, you both ignoring the very fact that most people would be uncomfortable with said nudity before she was yanking her earlier shirt back on. With a shake of your head, you dismiss her excitement, “Who cares? What if he’s some creepy guy that just lives around the university trying to prey on us?”

Sooyeong stops while grabbing for her scarf, even if she was willing to go bra-less, it seemed she was not willing to proudly sport her lady peaks to the world. She walked closer to you, adjusting the scarf enough that it covered her chest without looking intentional, “The rumors, _____! Please tell me you’ve heard!”

You give her an exasperated look, reinforcing your indifference to her new addiction, having done every little thing this guy has asked of her since the messenger launched last year. She had been all excited when she first saw the flier. 

You were positive it was just another one of those fliers where the users were being picked up to never be seen again. It had shown up so many times in the news how these groups would prey on young girls, especially college-age, that were looking to earn a quick buck. Not being able to speak for anyone else, but your mom didn’t raise no fool and as your best friend’s roommate you would not allow her to do anything stupid. After sitting her down and explaining all your worries over the app, useless as it had been, you both had agreed not to ever meet anyone if they asked that of her.

“Yeah, I’ve heard Sooyeong, but you don’t have to do whatever he says. You don’t know anything about this creep.”

She sighs as she grabs her bag she had thrown to her bed in her haste to change for ‘Titty Tuesday’ before she looked your way again, a mere glance on her way out of her room, “I know that _____, but aren’t you at least curious?”

You follow her, as she rushes back to the door now that she’s terribly late for her first class, “I’m more excited for him to be put behind bars,” you yell at her back as she leaves you watching her while she descends the stairs. 

* * *

Unfortunately, you had been the only one with this sentiment. By your count alone you had run into no more than fifty bra-less girls since your 10 AM English lit class and almost screamed about it when you sat down for lunch with your poor friend Jooheon who had been unlucky enough to follow you for lunch after you finished your Sociology class. 

“I cannot believe this! None of these girls know who he is but they’re willing to go bra-less all day for him?? Does that make any sense?”

Jooheon looks at you barely as he continues to cut up his meatballs which remained from his spaghetti plate. He had been the one you whined to the most about this shady app and yet he still sat there every time and gave you a tentative ear before suggesting you both head to a party at BTS since he was close with some of the members there. Like always, you agreed to, “Fine, but you better keep Minhyuk away from me. I swear if I have to hear about him teaching Math to underprivileged kids again I’m going to strangle myself.”

“Don’t do that,” Jooheon sighs before tossing his napkin onto his plate, “Minhyuk just forgets a lot.”

“I swear to god-“

He laughs and nods as he stands up, clutching his wallet, “I got it, ____, I’ll help you steer clear of him.”

You were still making the problem of Minhyuk’s abundance of talking debate while you both were exiting the cheap diner on campus. A few steps down, your eyes on Jooheon to continue the conversation had you oblivious to the boy on the skateboard heading straight for you as your feet cleared the last step of the stairs.

“Shit, fuck-“ you heard screamed a foot from you before you toppled over; your head hitting the sidewalk rather hard. The skater was quick to get up on his knees, assessing the damage as he looked you over by moving your limbs some before he was face to face with you. He brushed your bangs out of your face, “Hey, are you okay?”

Jooheon knelt down on your other side, a grimace on his face as he sat you up on the sidewalk before he shot the other boy a glare, “Why in the hell were you not paying attention to where you were going? She hit her head really hard!”

“I didn’t mean to!” The boy with light brown hair screamed back at your friend before checking you over again. “I glanced down at my phone for only a second!”

Jooheon is still grumbling at the other boy as he stands you up and you’re honestly still in shock from being winded so badly that you haven’t spoken at all. Your friend is walking around you, dusting you off before he stops and inspects the back of your head where you hit the worst. You can see the small signs of panic flooding his system since you haven’t said a word since being knocked over.

So you pat his shoulder and give him a small smile, “I’m fine.” Or you try to say you’re fine, but the words stick to your throat and you cough roughly while watching his eyes shoot wide.

“I’m taking you to the student clinic,” he states before glaring at the skater boy, “And you better follow me. If I find out my friend has any permanent damage then you’re taking indefinite responsibility.”

The lighter haired boy raises his hands in defeat but follows accordingly. Even though he does as told, you spot him constantly on his phone and typing away as if he was on the way to something important. Maybe even his next class across campus. You felt bad that your friend was dragging him along when you were sure you were fine, but it was hard to change Jooheon’s mind once he made it up.

Upon reaching the clinic, Jooheon escorted you to the little lady at the front desk and jumped right into explaining what had happened. “We were walking out of the campus dinner when this bozo,” he hitched his thumb back at the brown-haired boy, “ran her over with his skateboard and she hit her head hard. She seems to have trouble talking, but I was more concerned about her having hit her head so hard.”

She smiles at him and hands him a clipboard full of paperwork, “Will you fill these out while I escort her to be checked on?”

He smiles, his beautiful dimpled smile when he takes them from her, “I can do that,” he agrees before turning and pushing your assailant towards the waiting area. When you look back at the small lady she is standing off to the side of her desk and motioning with her hand for you to follow her, so you do. 

“You’re so lucky to have such a caring friend,” she comments aloud as she weaves you through the clinic, “Many people who hit their head hard just brush it off and a good percentage of them pass away from some internal problem caused by hitting their head.”

You nod, too worried now from your earlier speech problem to try again. She’s still chatting about Jooheon when she drops you with the doctor who seems to be waiting for you to appear. She smiles and welcomes you in before the nurse closes the door and leaves you to it.

* * *

Jooheon is anxiously filling in all the information on you that he knows while he shoots the other boy a heavy glare, “You really have the worst timing, dude. I was going to drag her to BTS for their annual fall thing and now she has a legitimate excuse for skipping.”

“I’m sorry,” he sighs, adjusting in the seat next to the angry boy, pouting as he fills in that crapload of paperwork that the clinic required. “I really had only looked down at my phone for a second since someone had messaged me.”

Jooheon shakes off the statement before he hands the other boy the papers, “Fill in your information. I don’t know you at all.”

The brown-haired boy takes the clipboard and starts filling in his information while he chews on his bottom lip. His eyes eventually drift back to your angry companion who has leaned back and is doing his best to stay calm, “I’m Changkyun, by the way, Im Changkyun.” 

“Lee Jooheon,” your best friend responds, jumping to his feet as the nurse from earlier returns to them. 

Changkyun also stands, forgetting his need to fill in the paperwork for a moment, as the nurse smiles at both of them. “She’ll be fine. She has a mild concussion and a migraine which explains her trouble speaking, although rare, but she’ll be able to leave soon enough. Make sure to take her straight back to her dorm and give her medicine. We recommend she stays in a dark room to ease some of the tension from her migraine.”

“Thank you so much,” Jooheon spits out, “Will she be fine by Monday? She hates missing class.”

“She should be fine, but remind her to come in if she’s still having trouble.”

“I’ll do that,” he smiles, his dimples standing out before he rounds on Changkyun when the nurse leaves, “You have to watch her tonight. I cannot miss the party at BTS, so take responsibility for what you did and watch over _______ tonight.”

Changkyun whines, almost dropping the paperwork, “I have to be there too!”

“That was before you nearly killed my friend,” Jooheon quips before grabbing the clipboard from him and returning it to the nurse at the station. 

* * *

You were sitting on your couch, fluffy pillow and throw, while you watched reruns of Supernatural for most of the afternoon. Changkyun, although begrudgingly, sat down on the small chaise next to you flicking through whatever business was going on inside his phone. “Eighty,” he had whispered at one point, earning your stare at the suspicious number lingering in the air. When he looked up and learned you had heard him, he laughed and tucked his phone back away inside his pant’s pocket before turning his attention to the TV show. 

A few coughs to clear your throat as you glanced at the time before addressing him, “You don’t have to stay,” you said with your weak voice, only having recently learned you had it back. “I know Jooheon told you to, but I’m fine. I don’t even have a lump on my head.”

He looked at you, shuffling his long fringe of brown hair from his eyes, “It’s fine. I just have to keep track of something. My friends are sending me counts of things and if it gets to a high enough number then I promised to send my followers a picture.”

“Oh, like on Tumblr or Twitter?”

He chuckled, resting his hand on his pant’s leg when his phone vibrated again, “Similar.”

You pushed the thought from your mind that something sounded awfully familiar to what he had just said. The thought nagged at the back of your mind as you watch Sam and Dean Winchester toy around with Crowley, the King of Hell. At the end of the episode, you glance over to find that your caretaker has disappeared sometime during the show and sigh. You hoped he had gone home, honestly, it was more uncomfortable being taken care of by someone you didn’t even know aside from his name.

You stand, folding the throw before putting it where you had been sitting and move to the bathroom where you assume Changkyun has hidden away. 

_Changkyun_ : “I told you this was a stupid idea, Hoseok. The numbers are nowhere near

where you expected them. We’ll be lucky if we get to ninety.”

 _Changkyun_ : “I told you they weren’t interested in me, hyung. Anonymity is better.”

 _Changkyun_ : “Hyunnnnng~!”

 _Changkyun_ : “Next time you have one of these bone-headed ideas, please leave me out of them!”

Your brows furrow as you listen in. The conversation gets more and more heated with whomever this ‘Hoseok’ guy is. A loud crack sounds inside the bathroom before the door is thrown open and you scream at the fast pace of everything. Coming face to face with Changkyun as his eyes widen when he sees you. He coughs, “Uh,” he mumbles before looking behind him then back at you, “I’ll pay for the glass door, I promise. I didn’t mean to break it.”

You lean around him and notice the huge crack in the glass door of your shower, “Wow,” you hum before returning to your original spot in front of him. “I didn’t think that was possible.”

The boy in front of you rubs the back of his head, disheveling the hair, “I’m really sorry.”

Despite the obvious aggression towards the phone, it still vibrates across the linoleum floor signaling its purpose. Changkyun sighs staring at the battered phone, then up at the mess he had caused to your shower door, “I will definitely pay for that and anything else you may need.” 

“Just go,” you finally speak, eyes shifting from the glass on the ground in your bathroom up to his face, “I told you since the beginning you didn’t have to be here. Jooheon obviously scared you into babysitting me. It’s only 1 AM, you can easily make it to BTS and do whatever you had to do tonight before you got caught up with me.” Without giving him the chance to defend himself, you turn and walk to a closet down the hallway where you pull a broom and dustpan from. When you return to the destroyed bathroom, Changkyun is gone, but you hear your front door open and close a few seconds later.

* * *

Hoseok is sprawled out on the couch, arms over shoulders of female students as he listens to his friends that surround him. He turns to Hobi that is just off to his side and grins, “I’m surprised you’re partying, dude, don’t you have that competition in the morning? You’re the face of the dance department, aren’t you?”

Hobi takes a sip of his rum, his eyes dancing over the swaying bodies just beyond where they’re stationed on the couch, “You say that like I don’t do every competition at least a little buzzed.”

Jooheon lays a heavy hand on Hobi’s shoulder, “Have you seen Namjoon? I need to talk to him about Jackson.”

Hobi’s focus drifts to the boy behind him, “He did something stupid again, didn’t he?”

Jooheon just forces out a laugh as Hobi points in the direction of the beer pong area. It had been no small thing whenever Jackson’s name was brought up; at least not since he broke your heart a couple of years ago. The poor guy had been spiraling since then and none of his friends, including Namjoon, were sure about what they should do to fix it.

Hoseok leans forward, removing his arms from the girls that flank his side when he grabs for his solo cup. He watches as Jooheon disappears into the crowd as he sips from his cup, immediately spitting it on the ground between his feet, “What the fuck did Taehyung give me? Battery acid?”

Hobi grins, “The fuck-it-should-be-Friday special, is what he usually calls it,” the dancer claims as he reaches for the solo cup from Hoseok, eyeing the contents, “Looks extra strong today, though.”

Hoseok frowns and moves to stand, taking his alcohol consumption into his own hands as he makes his way towards the kitchen where he finds the little punk who mixed his earlier drink. The boy had a smug look on his face as he supplied the partygoers with beer from the keg he was manning. Taehyung finally notices him on the outer rim of the crowd and smirks, “Hoseok,” he calls, offering a boxy smile as he’s approached, “the drink I gave you earlier wasn’t enough?”

“We all know that’s not the case,” a deep voice calls from behind Hoseok as a hand lands on his shoulder. The owner maneuvering around him until he’s standing before the both of them, “The Friday special is deadly, Tae, I’m pretty sure anyone who has tried it would agree. The damn thing had me on my ass for two whole days the last time I tried it.”

“Weak,” Taehyung laughs before offering his hand to the new guy, “What’s good, Changkyun? I hear your app is blowing up as we get closer to finals.”

Changkyun laughs before patting Taehyung on the back and nodding to Hoseok, “It’s doing ok. I didn’t reach my goal today, though, so I guess I still have a long way to go.”

Hoseok perks up at this, “What? I was sure you would definitely get over 100. What the hell happened, man?”

Changkyun shrugs, checking his phone to see that even the poll of users on I.Messenger had said only 80 people would participate. He always hoped the number wouldn’t be accurate, but it seems that today it was dead on and that his little experiment with his friends had failed. “I guess even if they like the app, it doesn’t mean they’re necessarily curious about the person who runs it.”

Taehyung makes himself a solo cup of beer, sipping on it before he’s pointing at Changkyun with the hand holding the red cup, “Maybe it’s that,” he suggested before taking another sip.

“What?”

“Loss of a fantasy,” Taehyung adds on as he takes another sip, “If they see you and what you look like doesn’t add up to how they imagine you– it would ruin the fantasy, right? Girls are into that shit. That’s why they read those gross ass romance novels you can buy at the corner store.”

“I never thought of that,” Hoseok admits as he takes the cup from Taehyung and drinks it down, “Maybe we should have made the number lower.”

“You think,” Changkyun deadpans as he helps himself to the beer keg, chugging down the bitter liquid, “and that’s not even the worst part of my day so far.” He refills his glass, taking his time on this round as he looks around the fraternity house, “Jooheon isn’t here is he?”

“Jooheon?” Hoseok question, eyebrow raised before he nods in the direction of the beer pong tables, “Why are you curious about him?”

Changkyun’s eyes rest on the crowded area, guard on high, “He might kick my ass if he finds me here. I ran over his friend earlier on my skateboard and gave her a concussion.”

“Her?” Taehyung grins, taking the nozzle back from Changkyun to refill the cup Hoseok had taken from him, “You’re not talking about that girl he’s always hanging with at the university diner, right? Bro, if it’s her, you’re a brave guy being in his presence.”

Hoseok glances between the two guys, “Jooheon’s friend?”

Changkyun takes a big gulp of his beer, nerves getting the better of him, “Yeah, man, she’s like a foot shorter than him with long hair that goes to her waist.”

Taehyung laughs, “That could be any girl. Jooheon has way too many girls that are friends, man. Most of them fit that description.”

“You don’t remember her name?” Hoseok chimes in, clearly invested in Changkyun’s misstep. “You can remember the first 50 usernames of the girls who joined your app during the beta phase, but you cannot remember the name of a girl you ran over irl?”

“Come on, Hoseok, the first 50 users is a milestone when you’re an amateur app maker. I’m surprised he didn’t get them tattooed on his skin on something,” Taehyung explains, knowing Changkyun takes great pride in his app. No one would understand the hard work he’d seen his friend put into the app over the years since high school (back then it had only been an idea, though).

“I was just stating a fact, Tae, no need to make a big deal out of it.”

“Gotta go,” Changkyun yells as he darts past Hoseok, aiming for the front door. It isn’t until Jooheon runs past them that they realize that he’s running for his life.


	2. Peace Offering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “He wanted to risk our friendship last night,” you shrug, pulling out the breakfast sandwich first and unwrapping it. Ignoring how your roommate slapped you, even though you knew she was holding in her screams and had temporarily forgotten what the real reason for her visit was.
> 
> “HE DID WHAT?!?”
> 
> “I went for notes and got offered dick. It wasn’t exactly a bad offer.”
> 
> “You bitch!” she frowns, “And what happened?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crossposted to [tumblr](https://fantasia-minhyuk.tumblr.com/tagged/ff%3A-i.messenger).

You’re hunkered down in the back of your Sociology class the following Wednesday, taking notes as best you can, when the phone of the girl beside you starts to ding. It was the classic tone from I.Messenger that you and your professors had come to dislike as the crowd of females in the lecture hall pulled out their phones simultaneously. Whines could be heard from every corner of the room followed by fierce thumbs against screens of smartphones in the class. Professor Sanders didn’t wait until the end of the disturbance, in order to keep the class on the right schedule. Sadly, it meant you missed a few words during his explanations on the human psyche that genuinely interested you. 

“People are scum,” the girl next to you noted aloud before she tossed her phone back in her shoulder bag, “The absolute worst.”

Curiosity scratched at your insides, begging you to ask even though you had no real interest in the I.Messenger app or even the person who runs it, “What happened?” 

The girl glares at you, obviously thinking you were strange not to know the details already. Every girl, if not most, knew what was going on thanks to the I.Messenger app’s owner pushing out a short PSA, but she explained anyway. “I.M, the owner of I.Messenger, was injured last Tuesday at a frat party. He said it was the reason he wasn’t able to keep up with the numbers from TT since he didn’t want to scare anyone with his appearance.”

Shame, you think, as you listen to her. Even you can recognize the high sarcasm and note it’s best you do not give your opinion to this girl as she already doesn’t seem to like you. When the professor calls an end to the class, you collect your iPad you had been taking notes on and book it out of the room. You were already 5 minutes late to meet Jooheon at the diner and it was his turn to buy.

Putting more strength in your legs you start jogging out of the Social Science building, weaving in and out of bodies before one in particular knocks you flat on your ass. 

“Fuck, not again,” a familiar voice groans.

Brown eyes, choppy brown hair, and a look of concern crowd your vision as the boy from last week makes his reappearance in your life. You take in the fading bruising around his eyes behind the shades he’s sporting as he pulls you up by your hands and looks you over. It’s still a shock that you’ve been knocked to the ground twice by the same guy in less than a month; the odds were not in your favor.

“You’re alright, right? Talk, say something?” He worried, watching you steadily, “Shit, I’ll just escort you to the clinic myself this time. Please don’t tell Jooheon.”

You stop him, grabbing his hand that still holds yours, “I’m fine. Just debating what I did wrong in a past life to be continually roughhoused by you and I’m late,” you clarify before dropping his hand, “I won’t tell Jooheon!” 

Changkyun stares after you, relieved and concerned. Would you keep your word?

Jooheon stares across the table at your chicken salad sandwich and sprite. You were late. A lot later than you had been in the past, especially when he was paying. In fact, he was on his last meatball from his spaghetti, holding off until you walked through the door. He felt bad not waiting for you, but he was hungry. The thing that had solidified your weekly lunch dates was that you both kept to a schedule and it was strange for him that you were not able to today.

You stumble in, focus broken when you lose your grip on your iPad, and panic in hopes of catching it before it meets the ground. You’re a mess, hair astray and flushed face when you finally sit down across from Jooheon who has a look of mild interest before he motions for you to eat your sandwich. 

He waits until you’re halfway through your sandwich before he grins, “So, you were so shocked by my handsome face that you almost murdered your iPad, huh?”

You roll your eyes before picking at the Italian bread of the second half of your sandwich, “I think we’ve long established, sweetheart, that we do nothing for each other. So quit stroking your ego. Save that for your little girlfriends that you have wrapped around your dick on a nightly basis.”

Jooheon throws his arms wide as he shrugs, “You’re just jealous you never tried this dick.”

You make a faux retching sound, pushing your sandwich away for emphasis, “You,” the sound gets louder, “are unbelievable.”

He laughs at your expense, straightening his shirt as he watches you, “How come you were late today? Professor Sanders is usually pretty punctual with his teaching times.”

You resumed eating your sandwich, giving up on your earlier joke as easily as it had come. Your mind drifted over Changkyun, his brown eyes, nose, lips, and remembered the words he had said. The promise you had made to him. A version of the truth wouldn’t hurt anyone, in this case, “I.Messenger happened,” you complain as was your usual, “The pompous guy sent out a mass message in the middle of Professor Sanders’ lecture and I missed a good chunk of his comments. Please say you have your notes.”

“Not on me,” he laughs, “but you can get them from me after dinner if you stop by my place.”

“You know I don’t have the strength to deal with Minhyuk,” you whine, tossing the last piece of your sandwich into your mouth, “How did you end up as his roommate anyways? You’re not even compatible as roommates.”

“Blind room assignments,” he grins. He had always found your current dislike of his roommate as amusing when you originally stumbled all over yourself just from him smiling at you for two seconds. You had definitely grown up since he met you freshman year. “Are you coming over later? Or should I have Minhyuk deliver them to your apartment?”

“I will end you,” you threaten half-heartedly.

Jooheon is still grinning as he stands, laying a kiss to the crown of your head before he pulls away, “I finally understand why Hoseok compares you to a cute puppy,” he comments before leaving the diner. 

You grab your unopened bottle of Sprite and leave the diner as well, uneasy about the fact that Jooheon talks about you with his friends. Hoseok is a cool guy, you can admit that. He also is a physiology major that bodybuilds in his free time- which makes him hard to look away from. So why out of all of Jooheon’s friends had you never thought that he would call you the equivalent of a cute puppy? It just seemed a little bit wrong.

* * *

* * *

* * *

Sooyeong and you were sitting across from each other in the dining hall. If lunch was between you and Jooheon, dinner was reserved for your best bitch who just so happened to be your roommate. She was idly scrolling on her phone while she shoved Mu Shu Pork into her mouth and complained about the rice being old. That was your best friend. 

“Is it really that hard? I would take instant rice over this crap that’s been sitting there all day,” she whines, accidentally shoving most of the rice off of her tray.

“I hear you,” a voice breaks into the bubble between your roommate and yourself as they slide into the booth next to you with their tray. There, yet again, is the same boy with brown hair and fading bruises. He stares down at the rice on his own plate like it’s diseased as he grudgingly picks up his spoon and pokes at it, “I swear they think we’re animals that eat anything sometimes.”

“Here, here,” your roommate agrees, watching Changkyun analyze his rice.

You, however, look down at your own plate. Instead of Asian Cuisine, you had opted for a soup and salad deal and realized even that wasn’t something you were completely interested in as it still sat there barely touched. 

Changkyun leans closer to you when Sooyeong dives back into her phone, “Sorry about invading your booth. There weren’t many available options.”

You shrug, snapping out of your focus on your plate to look at him. You scoot further into the booth when you realize just how close Changkyun is to you before you relax again, “It’s fine.”

“Did you get your shower door fixed?” he questions as he opts just to only eat the jjajangmyeon he had requested.

“No,” you whisper, having already argued with Sooyeong about it earlier. You had totally forgotten to mention it to her before she went to bathe that there was no door on the shower. It had cost you Starbucks, a temporary pole, and a shower curtain before she would forgive you. 

Changkyun leaned towards you again, lowering his voice as you had done, “Is she your roommate?”

You nod, eyeing Sooyeong for a moment before addressing him again, “Yeah, she’s probably harsher than even our landlord. He said it would be fixed by next Friday.”

“That’s good to hear,” he agrees, pushing more of the noodles into his mouth, “I am sorry.”

You laugh it off, picking up your fork to toss around the romaine leaves of your salad, “It’s fine.”

He takes his empty bowl, stale rice, and stands before grabbing your tray and taking it with him. It leaves you staring in muted agony as he tosses your abused-but-not-eaten food into the trash before setting the trays on top of the bin. When he walks back he offers his hand, “Ice cream?”

Sooyeong chimes in then, “She’s totally going. She needs a break from studying.”

You shoot daggers at your best friend who offers you a kiss before taking her own empty tray and putting it away just to make her exit without one smidgen of regret. Your eyes shift to Changkyun, he’s let his hand fall to his side as he looks at you and you realize he’s still waiting for an answer from you. “Yeah, sure, sorry.”

Changkyun takes your hand, quickly pulling you out of the booth and the dining hall into the night. For once, he doesn’t seem distracted by his phone and it’s not constantly pinging from his pocket- it was kind of nice. The two times you had met him before had been disasters and the pinging was very annoying. He doesn’t let your hand go as he swings your connected hands between you, “I feel like we’ve kind of been thrown together, you know?”

You laugh, “Well, you did run me over twice.”

“Not on purpose,” Changkyun groans, “but I feel like since we keep running into each other that I should at least know your name.”

“Oh, I thought Jooheon had told you,” you focus on the ground instead of his eyes, chewing your lip some, “I’m ____, I’m majoring in Sociology and minoring in Psychology.”

“And I will not be speaking for the rest of this ice cream adventure,” he jokes, finally letting your hand go to stare up at the sky, “I’m Changkyun, I guess you know that since I’ve heard Jooheon curses me out on a daily basis, and I’m a Computer Science major with a minor in Graphics. I sort of want to have a business of successful apps.”

“That’s awesome,” you grin, swinging your arms awkwardly now that you were used to him holding your hand, “Maybe you can run that weird I.Messenger off-campus. It seems like a trap from what I’ve heard.”

Changkyun almost trips hearing your thoughts on his app. It had been his baby since he was a senior in high school when he had been learning the fundamentals of basic app GUIs. The planning had taken him almost two years to get his app to where it was today. Countless summers wasted on beta testing and begging his friends to not find it weird for them to suggest the app to their hook-ups so he could test the privacy of the chatrooms and make sure they disappeared if the app timed out for a number of minutes. Endless hours had been put into his app and to hear it denounced was painful. “I’ve heard it’s not all that bad,” he tries to keep his voice level.

He stops when you do, worried he may have upset you with one sentence when noticing the fire in your eyes, “I just don’t understand the hype, ok? Woo, you get to sext a stranger or not-so-stranger if that person shares their real name with you. It’s still dangerous. I’m sure it’s had its share of hacking. What happens when someone uses the app to get to someone’s GPS location? The app could be held responsible. And what’s the deal about the creator not willingly giving out his identity? Is he a bad guy that cannot tell people who he is because he’s some 40-year-old creeper preying on college kids who are sexually frustrated? Like the whole thing is scary.”

Changkyun blinks, it was hard to be mad. Your points were all valid and defending the app would out him- especially if he tried to explain the GPS location thing had been worked out in the early beta testing as that had also been one of his biggest concerns. The next thing that hit him hard was her claim that he could be a 40-year-old creeper and he put his hands on his waist, feeling much like a dad, as he contemplated if he were even able to remedy that. From what she said, she didn’t use his app, so inviting her to a private convo wouldn’t end well for him so he could chat with her about it. To that extent, she probably wouldn’t even believe him if he didn’t show her all of him in photos. 

You start walking again, following behind Changkyun, and wondering what his thoughts were on what you had just said. You had no problem with people who used the app, your best friend was one of those users and you prayed that a majority of the users she interacted with were college guys like Changkyun. “Look, Changkyun, I don’t hold anything against the people who use that app. Everyone has their reasons, I just worry about people’s safety. It’s really intriguing what pulls people to those kinds of apps and what makes the users more willing to show more of themselves to strangers than people they know. I would love to do a case study on it, but I don’t think I would ever willingly join one. That’s just my thoughts.”

“I get it. Since I’ve joined, the app has been updated daily and everything seems to be in the interest of the users’ safety. It’s a good point you make. I’m sure you’re not the only one that worries over it,” He relents as he notices the corner store coming into view; the place he was taking you to for ice cream. 

The heavy atmosphere dissipates as you both grow excited seeing the options the corner store has in the deep freezer. You pull out a Mango Chamoy pop and turn to see Changkyun grabbing a Firecracker and you cannot help the laugh that bubbles out of you, “How old are you?”

“At least 3,” Changkyun joins your laughter, as you approach the saleswoman and he motions to your ice creams before handing her 6$. You both walk back outside, and he watches as you patiently and carefully unwrap your popsicle before you stop and stare at him.

“What?”

Changkyun makes a show of yanking the wrapping off his Firecracker and biting on the cherry-red tip, “Nothing in particular. Just watching.”

You give him that, in turn taking licks of your mango pop before changing to sucking on it. It’s a comfortable silence as you walk back to campus, enjoying your sweet treat. You’re so close to enjoying yourself, so close, which of course is when it is ruined by your phone blaring.

Jooheon.

Notes.

You almost drop your popsicle as you answer the phone, “Jooheon, I’m so sorry. I forgot.”

Changkyun doesn’t say anything as he listens to the one-sided conversation. He does get enough out of it to know that you’re about to leave him, so he starts biting his popsicle down as fast as the cold will let him. He barely misses two incoming brain freezes by the time you hang up the phone. He coughs against the cold, “You had plans?”

“Yeah,” you hum as you shove the phone back into your pant pocket, “I have to go. I need the notes from the class I share with him. Uhm,” you look around, avoiding his eyes as you feel a bit guilty for just leaving him, “Thanks for the ice cream,” you say, raising it up some, “until we run into each other again?”

“See you then.”

* * *

Minhyuk was bubbly and energetic like he had consumed three energy drinks five minutes before you arrived. He pulled you inside without a word as he started talking, a smile spread wide over his lips, “Hey babe, did you know that Jooheon was freaking out? He started pacing in the living room when you didn’t show up an hour ago. I don’t think you understand how much he cares for you. He was losing his mind. Periodt.”

A Majin Buu pillow hits Minhyuk in the face, a direct hit when the talkative boy finally takes a breath between the things coming from his mouth within seconds of your arrival. When you look over at his attacker, Jooheon motions with his head for you to join him inside his room so you leave Minhyuk where he stands in the living room before joining your friend. He closes the door and stares at you, “That guy is a menace to society.”

“I tried to tell you,” you rub in his face as you glance around his room. You plop down on his bed, the only other place you could sit on besides the chair in front of your friend’s home studio; his hobby that was more his passion than the major his parents had slotted him with. “Speaking of Minhyuk, did you let him have sugar or something?”

“He’s been drinking since he got back from his last class. It’s his usual ritual before he passes out and restarts again the next day.”

“How can he be such an accomplished guy and drink that much?” You shift your feet and smack your lips before turning your eyes back on him.

“He has issues,” Jooheon shrugs.

“Don’t we all,” you grin, looking him over, “So, do I have to offer payment for the notes or are you helping me out of the goodness of your twisted fuckboy heart?”

Jooheon doesn’t pretend you’ve wounded him as most boys would, he just gives you a slow smirk and licks his bottom lip, “Are you offering? Because I’m willing to risk our friendship for it.”

You stand, your eyes locked on him as you approach him, staring up into his face and realizing the lack of dimples was like he was a completely different person. You could see the appeal now that he wasn’t his smiley self, always making sure you were comfortable with him and it made you a bit uneasy. You lick your lips and force yourself to imagine your friend as the pillow he had thrown at Minhyuk’s face with a smile, “Give me the notes, punk, before I call Minhyuk in here to talk about how you were pacing in the living room again.”

Jooheon gives, picking up a notebook off his desktop and offering it to you, “The offer still stands if you ever change your mind.”

“I think I liked you better when I thought you were gay.”

He bursts with laughter, holding his stomach, “When was this?”

You tuck the notepad under your arm, “Last week,” you grin, trying to ignore the glare he gives you and failing; so you correct the statement. “Early freshman after we met.”

When you open the door, Minhyuk is passed out on the couch and Jooheon just pushes you forward, trying his best to ignore his roommate as he opens the front door. You spin after he pushes you out the door and smile, “And I’m holding that you still like dick until you can prove me wrong.”

“Bye,” he shouts, closing the door before you can shoot him a shit-eating grin.

* * *

Sooyeong wakes you up at the ass crack of dawn, jumping up and down on your bed, giddy with excitement as she stares at her phone screen. You cannot really tell yet, but she’s chanting something repeatedly as she swipes up and down on the screen as if reading and re-reading something. You rub your hands over your face before you scream into them, “I swear to GOD if this is about I.Messenger or even the creator of that damn app that I’m going to murder you and leave no evidence behind! It’s my late day!”

She finally stares down at you, wondering how you could possibly have the audacity to say that as if she isn’t the one invading your room and waking you up. “Excuse me, Hagatha, but all I ask from you is for you to be perky in the morning, down to drink away your sorrows when I have a bad day, and tell me that my ass is not flat when I ask it of you. So I do not appreciate the animosity so early in the morning.”

You cough to clear your throat, “Your ass is flat,” you reply before turning away from her, “Get out of my room.”

Sooyeong slaps your rump hard, fully offended by your comment, “Excuse me, miss priss, but I guess you don’t want the food that Jooheon left for you? He said it was a peace offering or something?”

You push yourself up off the bed at food, “Egg McMuffin? Hash brown? Coffee?”

Sooyeong rolls her eyes as she hits you with the McDonald’s bag, “I swear you two are made for each other. What did he do that he needed to offer food to make up for it?”

“He wanted to risk our friendship last night,” you shrug, pulling out the breakfast sandwich first and unwrapping it. Ignoring how your roommate slapped you, even though you knew she was holding in her screams and had temporarily forgotten what the real reason for her visit was.

“HE DID WHAT?!?”

“I went for notes and got offered dick. It wasn’t exactly a bad offer.”

“You bitch!” she frowns, “And what happened?”

“I took the notes and left,” you say between bites of your sandwich. It wasn’t exactly a secret that Sooyeong and about half a dozen other people were trying to get you and Jooheon together. You didn’t realize how big it was for her that he even showed an interest in you, but you were starting to see the big picture- it was a weird one. 

“I cannot believe you turned him down.”

You let your hand holding your sandwich rest against your knee, “We’re like two rival gang bosses, babe. He’s from the group of fuckboys and I’m the leader of don’t-fuck-with-me that doesn’t put up with his shit even if I do accept his twisted friendship. It would never work out the way you think it will.”

Sooyeong seems to lose some of the happiness that had been putting wind in the sails of your ship with Jooheon. She sighs and tosses her phone at you after unlocking it, “I.M will be at the fundraiser on Friday and he plans to donate money to the charity from the funds he earned from the app. I doubt he’s going to reveal who he is, but that’s a start, right?”

“I still hold that he can be a 40-year-old creeper,” you refuse to give in, pulling out your hashbrown to take a bite of it, “the fundraiser is an open campus event.”

“I give up,” she shouts before finally leaving your room.


	3. Vampira

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changkyun squares you with the same look as last night, his resolve faulty as his lips twitch, “____ we were fucking? Why didn’t you tell me? I would have taken off my clothes.”
> 
> You close the distance between you both, walking your fingers over his band tee, “Not too late to start.”
> 
> Sooyeong gags from the doorway, promptly shutting it in her exit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crossposted from [tumblr](https://xlilybebe.tumblr.com/tagged/ff%3A-i.messenger).

It’s Friday, post lacrosse game when Sooyeong appears in your room still wearing Jimin’s #13 jersey with shorts and black lines over her cheeks. The red surrounding the black lines indicate that she had gotten quite a bit of sun, but it doesn’t seem to dampen her parade; as if anything could. “Are you ready for the fundraiser?” she questions, eyeing your clothing of choice, “I’m taking that as a ‘not yet’ instead of I’m not going.”

You stare at her, the black jersey with blue numbers catching your attention, “Jimin from the Lacrosse team, really?” She brushes off your judgment as she walks to your closet and rifles through your clothes giving you an unobstructed view of Park J. over the back of the uniform. You had been hyping up the Lacrosse team captain to your best friend for months when you realized he was soft on her and it was shocking that she seemed to have made her move. “So when did it happen?”

“Hm?” she hums.

You raise a brow and move to your bed, resigned to the fact that it didn’t matter if you wanted to attend the fundraiser or not; you were going. She pulls out a sundress, turns to gauge it against you before shaking her head and putting it back in your closet. “When did you give Jimin a chance?”

“Today,” Sooyeong shrugs, pulling out a dress with flowers before returning it just as fast, “He asked me out before the game and I said yes.” 

A smile springs to your lips as you watch her act like it’s no big deal - as if the hottest team captain in years had not just asked her out like you had told her he would. The happiness the moment brings is cut short by your friend’s phone dinging with the sound from I.Messenger. You watch as she whips the phone out of her back pocket to read over whatever update the famed I.M has shared with the app’s users. It wouldn’t be a normal day at your university without the displeasure of that app going off.

Sooyeong tosses you a strapless number, bright blue in color before she turns to pick out pumps while her eyes still scan over the screen of her phone. Dissimilar to her normal interactions with the app, she doesn’t respond like she had many-a-time before and shoves her phone back into her pocket. It’s a stark difference from how you remember her acting just yesterday and it quells some of the nervous energy you had in regard to the app. “Jimin is coming to pick me up in a few if you want to head there with us.”

You strip down out of your comfortable leggings and shirt to pull on the dress she had handed you, not really curious as to why she assumed you would want to be a third wheel. The answer comes when she leaves you to answer the door, Jimin’s voice carrying through the room along with another one. It makes you pause while sliding your feet into the baby blue pumps Sooyeong had placed at the end of your bed. 

When you don’t seek out the new sounds coming into the apartment, Sooyeong comes to find you and drag you out of your safety zone to find Jimin alongside his best friend Taehyung. Opposite Jimin, Taehyung has a slim build and a beautiful smile that lights up the room. He has his hand pushed into the front of his skinny jeans, a shirt covered with a face likely drawn by a child and it doesn’t distract from his handsome face in the least. Your best friend smiles and pulls you closer to the boys, “And this, Taehyung, is your designated date for the day. My best friend, ______. Cute, right?”

Taehyung approaches you when Sooyeong moves to talk to Jimin, his smile never fading, “It’s nice to meet you, cutie,” he comments when he reaches your side. His deep voice has you stuttering as you try to come up with a reply to him. He chuckles, offering his hand and dropping it realizing the intimacy of the action is probably a little too much for your first time being around each other. 

“Shall we head out?” Sooyeong calls, her arm wrapped around Jimin’s as he leads them out of the apartment.

You, in turn, offer your hand to Taehyung noting how the awkward smile he had been trying to hide melts away as soon as he grabs your hand. 

You’re smiling and sending flirty glances towards your date, as your hand pokes at the basket of fries between you both. Taehyung being the total gentlemen you hadn’t expected him to be, is grinning at you as he recounts a story from his childhood. 

“He was bare ass naked,” your date’s deep chuckle rings between you, “we both were when his mom came home in the middle of a truth or dare game that had gone horribly wrong.”

You return his laugh, picking up the fry you had been tossing around for a bit to bite the end off of it, “I cannot imagine it’s easy to look at her anymore.”

“She won’t even let me into their home,” he agrees, pushing two fries into his mouth while his eyes scan the people around you before they find their way back to you; soft smile still in place with a dusting of pink on his golden cheeks. “What’s the deal with you and Jooheon?”

The name catches you off-guard as you focus on the guy in front of you. Not once had Jooheon’s name ever come up in regards to you in any past conversation since you had become rival mob bosses. You can tell your silence is causing his curiosity to peak, no doubt garnering a bunch of strange ideas with your lack of response to his mundane question.

“Friends,” you clarify, biting your lip, “I’ve known him since freshman.”

This amuses Taehyung, as he leans back and lets his gaze hold you in it, “Only friends?”

You shrug, straightening your back to give him a good view, not the least bit put off when his eyes rake over your body less subtly since you started hanging out with him earlier in the day, “What do you want me to say? That he’s attempted? Or that he’s been successful?”

“_____,” an equally deep voice calls you as a boy dressed in black appears at your side. By black, you mean combat boots, cargo pants and a shirt that you were sure had something edgy pressed onto the back in bright white as was the style. You let your eyes be pulled from Taehyung’s heated stare to take in Changkyun, granting him a smile, “Hey, I didn’t think the fundraiser was your scene.”

He nods, his eyes sweeping over Taehyung before he gives you his full attention again, “I was a bit concerned I would be run off by Jooheon, but Minhyuk told me he might work on his project tonight.”

“I did hear that also,” you hum, resting your hands on either side of your chair next to your thighs as you lean into his space. You watch as he snatches a few fries, not even a bit concerned about the person sitting with you as he shuffles to sit down in the last chair at the table you occupy, “You here with friends or alone?”

Changkyun hums, looking around the table once more, “I guess friends, I mean, you both are here with me now.”

Taehyung scoffs, pushing himself forward to pull the basket of fries from Changkyun’s reach as he had still been shoveling them into his mouth like he had bought them himself, “Since when were we friends? We’re rivals at best.”

You relax, letting the attention fall between the two boys as they vocally size each other up in front of you. The situation was typical of your male college friends, what with all the unchecked testosterone floating around aimlessly with rare opportunities to express it. This leads your eyes to Jooheon (clearly not working on his project), standing off in the distance, arm wrapped over a short girl with blonde hair that’s laughing enthusiastically at whatever joke is going around in the circle. Hoseok is grinning while Minhyuk continues to chatter, pulling more laughs from the group around him as he sips from a metal thermos that had already registered as alcohol from this far away. 

Jooheon’s eyes meet yours over the top of the blond’s head, his finger beckoning you to him and you shake your head. Your arms drop from where you had crossed them under your chest as you note that the table is a body less. Taehyung’s hooded eyes are no longer peaking at you from across the fry basket instead there is the choppy brown hair you have come to know as Changkyun’s bed head as he pushes the last fry from the basket between his lips with a smile that denotes his silent victory at having sent off Taehyung early. You rest your arms on the table as you finally bring your attention back to him fully, “I cannot believe you.”

Changkyun licks his fingers as he levels his gaze on you, “I could say the same,” he leans back as his eyes take you in, “Were you on a date?”

You tilt your head. Had your dress, heated stares, and flirting been completely ambiguous to him, or was he just messing with you? His chuckle pulls your focus back to him as he leans towards you over the table as well, “You didn’t seem all that into him.”

You raised a brow, the nerve of the guy in front of you. Did you have to be into someone to jump their dick? Did he even hear himself? You imagine fumes leaving you in waves as you shoot a glare at your unlikely new friend, “Well, that makes you oh for two,” you grit out, standing and finally making your way towards Jooheon. It’s only barely registered how the blond is nowhere in sight when you easily slide into Jooheon’s arm as he pulls you tight to his side. 

Hoseok grins at you, clearly having dipped into Minhyuk’s Kool-aid if the childish grin he’s shooting your way was proof of that. Minhyuk is his loud, vibrant self as he seems to finally notice you as if you had appeared out of thin air and miraculously replaced his roommate’s previous armrest, “_____! I haven’t seen you since the other night! You’re not avoiding me, are you?”

The pout he sends you pulls a smile from you, “Hardly. I just wasn’t interested in jumping Jooheon’s dick.”

Next to you, Jooheon chokes on the sip he was taking, his hand gripping your shoulder tightly as he tries to expel the liquid from his lungs. The laughs around the group are mirrored by your own as you offer aid by tapping his back with your hand. When the coughs calm down to stilted breaths and Minhyuk has taken back up to trying to entertain the masses, Jooheon pulls you closer with the arm he has around your back as he pushes his lips against your ear, “You know, you keep saying you don’t want this dick, but I bet it’s a lot more appealing than the skater boy that has been glaring at me since you left his table.”

You shrug, turning to take in Jooheon’s blown out eyes, “You want to get out of here?”

“Oh shit!” Minhyuk cries from the other half of the circle, his shriek loud as he repeats the words, “Do I need to stay at Hoseok’s tonight?”

“You’re not invited,” Hoseok laughs, pulling the thermos from his hands.

Jooheon nips at your cheek, “Where are we going, baby?”

“Your place?” you question, noticing how his eyes shift to Changkyun back at the table before he pulls you away. You both ignore the boisterous catcalls from his roommate as you start the walk back across campus. 

* * *

You groan stretching out your stiff body as you try to force it into working. It hadn’t occurred to you that the arm around your waist was the bigger item keeping you from moving freely. As you roll over, the arm tightens pulling you into Jooheon, his eyes refusing to open as he pushes his face into the crook of your neck. You had known for a while that he wasn’t a morning person, but generally speaking, he never seemed to like being around his sexual partners after he’d had his way with them. 

“It’s Saturday,” he whines against your neck, clearly not willing to let you go yet, “Do you ever sleep, Vampira?”

You choke out a laugh, “Vampira?”

Jooheon pulls back from your neck, pushing his head back enough so you can take in the littering of purple and blue bruising against his neck. It continues down much farther than you are willing to look this early in the day as you clear your throat. He grins before pecking your lips, “Good morning, by the way, I’m pretty sure Minhyuk is in the kitchen making penis-shaped pancakes for breakfast.”

You close your eyes, praying his roommate would just miraculously disappear in the next few moments, as you lean over the side of Jooheon’s bed searching for your clothes. You pull on your thong and dress before standing up to adjust it over your boobs while staring down at Jooheon in all his ruffled-hair glory as he sighs while moving to sit up finally. 

“Are you staying for penis cakes?”

“No,” you reply, turning to search for your pumps. It was nearly impossible to find anything in Jooheon’s room once he had started working on his year-end projects. What with papers strewn about and clothes crowding the floor. The real mystery had been how you even found your thong, to begin with. 

“Why not?”

“I’m late.”

Those words seem to stir something in the bed-ridden playboy as he shuffles to the edge of his bed, tugging nervously at his sheets, “What?”

“For office hours with my professor. Your notes were shit,” you grin shooting him a wink, “I’ll return your notes later.”

Jooheon can hear Minhyuk’s indignant screech as you leave the apartment without even taking one of his pancakes to-go with you. He runs his hands over his face, turns and buries himself back under his covers. There was no stopping you when you were ready to leave.

One warm shower, thirty minutes with your professor to catch up on the notes you had missed the last lecture and a grande iced guava passion fruit later led to you crouched over a table inside the library with your hair pulled back in a bun so loose the hair was barely in the band. Your crossed legs were covered with sweats and a shirt you’re pretty sure didn’t belong to you and big chunky plastic glasses as you stared into space. Your original intent was to come to study over the notes you had just received from the professor, but your mind was doing it’s worst as your decisions from the night before came roaring back to the forefront.

You had only been able to push the thoughts down for two hours, tops.

Knuckles rap against the tabletop you’ve been resting on, pulling your gaze up to meet Changkyun’s eyes. The bruising is just barely a green color as he claims the seat in front of you while setting down his stack of books. It’s not the least bit peculiar that they’re all varying books on programming, your eyes tracing the spines of the books before looking up at him again, “God, are you a morning person?”

Changkyun’s lips pull at the corners as he shifts the stack down to one book before opening it, his eyes catching the hickies spanning the parts of your neck not covered by your hair and shirt, “Rough night?”

Your hand reaches up to touch at your neck before you force it back to the table, trying to play it off by tossing your hair over your shoulder and incidentally giving him a better view, “I’m guessing you wouldn’t believe a lame attempt of saying I ran into my door multiple times this morning in my rush to get to my professor’s office hours on time, would you?”

His lips tighten at the corners, “Not likely.”

You let your head fall back to the top of the table while a groan leaves your lips as he tries his best not to laugh at your misery. Commending his attempt is granted, but you refuse to meet his gaze again, “Can we just pretend it didn’t happen? Is that a thing?”

Changkyun has already thrown open his C++ book, his eyes scanning over the pages as he looks for a particular property that he was hoping to tweak on his app. He should have been put off by finding you clearly post-sex in the library, but your plain-as-day regret oozing from you has him doing his best to contain how cute he finds your discomfort. The choice had obviously been a repercussion of him ruining your intended night with Taehyung and spiteful towards him with Jooheon, he assumed, despite all previous attempts to reconcile that you and Jooheon were only friends. “As you wish, princess, but I think the notion would be easier if it wasn’t so obvious.”

When the conversation dies down, you cross your arms under your chin as you watch Changkyun study the words on the pages in front of him. He’s since opened a few more as he references back and forth between three different books, clearly searching for something. It gives you time to take in the plaid shirt over a band tee and the assortment of bracelets lining his wrists; cord and silver alike. It’s only after he pushes his hair out of his face that you notice the irregular black paint on his fingernails, only on some fingers while others remain untouched. The sequence seems to be random as you note the remnants of polish in the cuticles of the nails he hadn’t repainted.

“Something on your mind?” his rough voice calls, eyes shortly lifting from his programming books to face you.

The question perks you up, lifting yourself off the table as you approach him with renewed interest, “What are you looking for?” Normally this question would never come out of your mouth as the inner workings of a computer didn’t interest you; as long as it worked. You were acutely aware that this allure in his own interests was purposely to avoid your own inner turmoil.

“Just some light reading for a test I have coming up,” he brushes off your interest, “I figured you’d be more intrigued by the nail polish. Most girls find it fascinating or,” he shrugs letting his wrist lose tension to drop with flare, “Think I’m froufrou or something.”

Your brows raise before you can stop them, biting your tongue in order to keep from asking the question you’re sure many have asked him as you reach for the hand he had left hanging in the air to inspect the job he had done. He doesn’t seem to mind as you pick at the polish he had left on his cuticles; maybe picking up on your need for a distraction.

The clock tower bell chimes, signaling noon as you finish scaping the remains of the abandoned polish from Changkyun’s nails. He grabs your attention by closing the books, it had been amazing he had been able to focus at all with you keeping one of his hands occupied for the past couple of hours. You relinquish his hand as he grins and starts stacking the books back up, “You interested in getting something to eat?”

It’s with acute clarity as your thoughts finally disperse, that you hear the chatter of the girls a few tables down. The conversation is over your neck, the hickies had long been exposed to the world as you had been too preoccupied with fixing Changkyun’s nails. Your table partner hums, lifting himself to his feet as he reaches his hand out to you. As your eyes follow up the offered hand to his face, you’re happy to see he’s not letting the talk convert his opinion on you as you slide your hand into his and allow him to lead the way.

Changkyun had dragged you into the campus cafeteria, his hand never left yours the whole time even as you two ordered food. He even helped carry the food as he pulled you along to what he considered as the ‘best table’ in the whole place. You had yet to understand the claim, but you let it go as you pulled your enchilada plate from the tray to place in front of you; pulling your hand from his finally to be able to pick up your knife and fork.

He, in turn, pulls his ramen from the tray before moving the tray to the empty chair next to him. Changkyun is aware of the increasing amount of eyes on you as he starts picking at his ramen, his hold on the chopsticks rigid as he tries not to stab at the boiled egg. The talk surrounding your table isn’t exactly pleasant and he can only imagine how you feel when it sets a fire in his chest that he does his best to control. 

You’re half-way through your enchiladas, fork drawing shapes into your refried beans as you sigh. Changkyun had finished his ramen thirty minutes ago and was watching you patiently as you lingered. The quiet at the table had let your mind wander without a break into last night and the mistake you had made by finally giving in to Jooheon’s advances. The chattering had only made it slightly worse, but thankfully, Changkyun’s chivalry had given you a sense of safety and you could see he also heard the people in the diner talking about you as well.

At the end of his wits, Changkyun takes the fork from your hand before he reaches forward and laces his fingers between yours, “Are you interested in a Supernatural marathon?”

You scrunch up your nose, frowning a bit at the offer.

“Ice cream and shochu?” He offers, squeezing your hand in his, “Let me know when the offer becomes appealing,” he laughs.

You shake his hand that holds yours, “I don’t know, are you going to paint my nails?”

Changkyun pulls back, his fingers barely entwined with yours as he avoids your gaze, “Am I meant to braid your hair and gush about cute butts also?”

“Only if you want to,” you shoot a wink, that he catches out of the corner of his eyes. 

His laughter is cute, rich, and brings a smile to your face as he fully removes his hand from yours. There seems to be a disconnect with the way he shakes his head as he throws away the remains of your uneaten food and his empty bowl before he returns to your side. You take the hand he offers up again, but he takes a backseat as you lead him back to your apartment with the minor pit stop to buy the ice cream and shochu he had promised.

You’re two bottles of shochu in with Supernatural running in the background, your foot in Changkyun’s hand as he brushes the polish onto your nails when Sooyeong barrels into the apartment. You watch her take one look at Changkyun, his hair pushed back by the fluffy pink headband you use while putting on your makeup, and the avocado facemask pasted to his face. He doesn’t even glance her way as she turns toward you with wide eyes before she leans on the back of the couch you’re occupying, “Sooo, stale rice guy,” she hums, “Why wasn’t I invited to the self-care sleepover?”

His stare concentrates on you instead of your nails, “Wait, we’re having a sleepover? I didn’t even pack my My Little Pony sleeping bag,” he whines, pushing on your leg that was anchored against his shoulder, “______, why didn’t you tell me?!”

You bite your lips, determined to not laugh even as you realize that’s his purpose and his current look bleeds into the whole clownery. Sooyeong, however, is howling as she looks from his face to yours which negates your earlier want to resist his attack. You double over while pulling away from Changkyun who wraps his hand around your ankle and sobers you some as you stare down at him. “I worked on those for the last forty-five minutes,” he complains, keeping your foot safe from any surfaces that could ruin his paint job. 

Sooyeong pokes at your avocado mask, making a face, “I think you should go wash those masks off. Just how long have you had them on? They’re going to cement onto your face at this rate.”

Your hand shoots up to your face before you panic, jumping to your feet as you wobble towards the apartment’s shared bathroom, “Come on, Changkyun, we need to wash up!” 

Changkyun sends your roommate a salute as he trails behind you into the bathroom.

  


Changkyun tosses his phone back onto the side table, squeezing his eyes shut as he shuffles on the bed and pulls the blanket back up to his chin. Last night had been his first full night of sleep in so long that eight hours was not nearly enough and he wanted to be greedy. He wanted to seize the warmth suctioned to his side of every last drop, so he does, wrapping his arms around the body next to him as he snuggles into their neck. Their whine doesn’t even register as he drifts back off to sleep.

* * *

It’s noon when you wake, stretching out over the top of your bed until your hand hits the face of the body next to you. The deep groan has your eyes peeling open with haste when you turn to see Changkyun, he lifts his arm to cover his face where you supposed you had just struck him. You shift onto your side, pillowing your arms under your head as you stare at him with a smile teasing at your lips as he lazily opens his eyes to stare at you.

“I was going to ask what I did to deserve that,” he muses, a smile stretching his cheeks, “But I suppose it was warranted with how I acted at the fundraiser and the times before that.”

You just mirror his good mood, your hand reaching out to trace over the peach fuzz covering his chin, “It was an accident, but I guess we can say that.”

The door to your bedroom opens, Sooyeong’s head peeking around the door as she takes both of you in on the bed, “So, like, are you two done fucking? ‘Cause I made lunch and there’s enough for both of you.”

Changkyun squares you with the same look as last night, his resolve faulty as his lips twitch, “____ we were fucking? Why didn’t you tell me? I would have taken off my clothes.”

You close the distance between you both, walking your fingers over his band tee, “Not too late to start.”

Sooyeong gags from the doorway, promptly shutting it in her exit. 

In her departure, Changkyun wraps his hand around yours to stop its ascent over his chest as he inspects your nails he had painted from the night before. The job is rather sloppy, even for his limited skills. When he looks back to you, your eyes are studying much like they had yesterday when you watched him searching for the code he wanted for his messaging app. That had only been one of many trips he had made to the library for research on how to improve the overall useability of I.Messenger. 

The app had been gaining momentum as finals were approaching and the stress was eating away at the overall morale of college students. He had predicted as such but hadn’t implemented a plan to account for the increase in numbers. In part, his search had been on increasing the capacity and keeping the same standards of safety the users had come to know without jeopardizing the quality of service. If he was honest, he had never expected his app to reach over a thousand users and he was already breaking closer to five. 

“As fun as that sounds,” he breathes out, noting the surprise, “I need to get back to the library to study. There are still a few things I need to review before the exam on Tuesday, so I’m afraid our coitus will have to wait.”

You move forward, propping your chin on his chest, “Are you at least going to eat with us? You’ll regret it if you miss out on something Sooyeong personally prepared. She’s a culinary arts major and her prowess when it comes to food is irrefutable.”

Changkyun purses his lips, wrangling with the decision then he nods, laying a kiss to your fingers before he sits up and stretches out his back. The satisfying pop relaxes the tension in his shoulders while he looks around your room for his button-up. Your room was probably the cleanest bedroom he has seen since he entered college - though he was sure girls usually kept their room better than all of the roommates he had been settled with for the past two years. Which led his eyes to your desk, finding his shirt draped over the back of the chair stationed in front of it. 

You sit on the edge of your bed, lavender sheets wrapped around your waist as you watch him put his shirt on. It was funny how easily Changkyun had fallen into your life since he ran you over a couple of weeks ago. His easy smile as he catches your eyes on him warms you before he’s offering his hand to pull you off the sheets. Contrary to the screeching breakfast Minhyuk had tried to pelt you with from your morning after, Sooyeong is far more tasteful when it comes to food. It’s the conversation that makes you want to shove your head in the ground like an ostrich. 

Sooyeong levels her eyes on Changkyun who had been quietly appreciating the food, a glint of trouble in her gaze, “I’m assuming your dick game is insurmountable if ____ let you stay overnight.”

You try not to let the statement get a rise out of you, but Changkyun seems amused by her assessment.

“Are you interested in trying it out?” He smirks, chewing slowly on the pork chop your roommate had cooked for lunch. “I’m also curious to see if my dick game is unbeatable.”

Sooyeong doesn’t back down, she never has, as she shoves some of the pork between her lips chewing around a smile. She liked Changkyun, that much you could tell, but you knew it was as a person and not much else. She pointed at her own neck, the question out in the open before she even asked it, “Are you responsible for the Starry Night on my roommate’s neck?”

Changkyun licks his lips, eyes never straying from her, “Oh, so you don’t know.”

“Enlighten me,” she picks at the garlic parmesan broccoli on her plate.

That’s when his eyes find you, expertly avoiding him while you push your plate away from you. You didn’t seem upset with your roommate’s queries, nor sure how to approach them so he rolls his shoulders, but your hand finds his thigh under the table, gripping it. He clears his throat, raising his hand to block his mouth before answering, “Do I really have to admit it if we’re clearly something?”

You finally look his way, relief on your face before you change it to what he assumes is a face of discomfort. He should really urge you to sign up for theater class if this was the level of your skill when you lean towards your friend.

“Is this really a conversation we should be having while he’s present?”

Sooyeong also lessens the distance between you two, leaning with her elbow on the table to face you, “It’s not like I was going to get the info from you,” she sneered, eyes watching Changkyun as he quietly allows you two to converse over what you were sure would be a long aside to the main conversation. “You’ve kept any sexual things or relationships to yourself since I started hoping you would get together with Jooheon. I never would’ve expected the stale rice guy. He’s not exactly your style.”

This earns Changkyun’s attention, his arm wrapping around the back of your chair as he leans into you, “What exactly is your style, ____?” His nose trails along the skin behind your ear, sending shivers down your spine, “Someone that makes you scream their name while they fuck you into the mattress? Or do you like to ride them until your hips give out?”

Now your face is red, legs squeezed together, but the shock only lasts for so long before you’re shoving Changkyun away from you, “Don’t you have to go study or something?”

“Well, I guess that answers my question,” Sooyeong frowns, the mystery person who wrecked your neck eludes her yet again.


	4. Trash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "So, what’s wrong?”
> 
> “Nothing, I’m fine,” you shrug, taking a tentative bite of the chicken.
> 
> “If you’re upset about the sex, it’s kind of late to take it back,” he says plainly, taking a sip of his ice water, “You didn’t seem all that worried about it that morning.”
> 
> “I was more concerned with Minhyuk throwing penis-shaped pancakes at my face.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crossposted from [tumblr](https://xlilybebe.tumblr.com/post/630903430540558336/status-in-progress-wc-4449-pairing-changkyun-x).

When you sit down across from Jooheon for your weekly lunch date, spaghetti twirled around his fork poised to enter his mouth as his eyes finally make their way to you. He’s amused, to say the least as his eyes drift over your matching hickies before he finally shoves the noodles into his mouth. “Is being late becoming the norm?”

You glance at him, pushing your iPad into your shoulder bag after locking it; tossing the pencil in after it. He was far too cheeky for your liking, but you shrug, “Well, at least it wasn’t related to the nefarious I.Messenger,” you relent while your eyes shoot to the lunch menu for the cafe. It had been your turn to buy, so you figured he didn’t think you would show given the situation. However, you were nothing if not consistent. “I guess I owe you twice for lunch now,” you motion towards his spaghetti plate.

Jooheon doesn’t comment on that as you head towards the counter, his eyes following you as you go. It was a rare day when he was able to see you in anything besides pants. The dress the night of the festival had been a shock since it wasn’t your usual style. The floral print sundress hidden under a khaki knee-length coat was definitely more to your taste. You only slide back into the booth with your three tenders which pulls his attention to your plate. There had not been one moment since your lunch dates had started that you ever cared what he thought of what you ate, but the small meal was hardly even a snack. It was lunch and you were known for full meals. “Is something wrong?”

You sigh heavily, resting your chin on the palm of your hand as you lean on the table, “Not really,” you relent as you poke at a chicken tender, “How’s your project going?”

“It’s going,” he hums, cutting one of his meatballs up and placing a piece in his mouth, “The backtrack is done, the lyrics are ready and I’m just waiting to put my voice to it. So, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m fine,” you shrug, taking a tentative bite of the chicken.

“If you’re upset about the sex, it’s kind of late to take it back,” he says plainly, taking a sip of his ice water, “You didn’t seem all that worried about it that morning.”

“I was more concerned with Minhyuk throwing penis-shaped pancakes at my face,” you take another bite of the tender, your ears ringing with the sound that had been absent from your daily life for almost a week now. Jooheon pulls his phone from his pocket, silences the notification before returning his eyes to you. The revelation hits you in the face as you finally straighten in your seat, tossing the partly eaten tender aside, “You use that app?”

Jooheon presses the last piece of meatball into his mouth before he addresses your question, nonchalant, “There’s not exactly a rule against it.”

You scoff, pressing your back into the booth cushion, crossing your arms across your stomach as you stare over at Jooheon who doesn’t seem the slightest bit fazed by the topic. The repeated engagement of the topic probably had numbed him to your animosity towards the app since it was a steady conversation at this very booth every week. Your silence doesn’t perturb him, you’re not even sure he notices it as he picks up his plate and walks it to the dirty dishes bucket, capturing your barely touched plate as well before depositing it alongside his. What is it with men and throwing away your partially eaten food? 

“I have to go,” Jooheon pulls his bag from the booth, throwing the strap over his shoulder before looking at you, “If you want to talk about what’s bothering you, you know where to find me.” He’s out the door, but he hears the end of your sentence about being between someone’s legs and shakes his head, waving his hand over his head as he departs.

* * *

  
  


* * *

Hoseok sighs while staring at the home menu of I.Messenger. This app had always been one he didn’t care for as he watched how it’s increasing popularity made his roommate more of a recluse. He only went to parties when it was something regarding his app. Otherwise, his schedule was set in stone: class, apartment. Changkyun had even started using Hoseok’s home gym so he wouldn’t have to interact with people at the gym and, in the beginning, he had seen it as a bonding moment for him and his roommate. Now he saw it as an avoidance tactic. Just what could he be running from? He’s the one that chose anonymity while running his app.

“Hoseok, are you home?”

“On the couch,” he locks his phone and tosses it next to his thigh before looking up to see Changkyun entering the room. His eyes trace over his roommate before settling on the smeared lipstick on his jaw, “That’s not your usual shade,” he comments, pointing out the lipstick.

Changkyun touches his face then wipes his face clean with the sleeve of his shirt. He fidgets behind the recliner in front of him, his nerves getting the better of him before he starts pacing the long stretch of ground between the front entrance and the hallway to their rooms. Hoseok just watches him and he’s grateful for that. The number of things racing through his mind is overwhelming and he felt miserable after taking up one of his user’s offers on the app. He’d never agreed to that before and now he was sure it was one of the worst things he’d ever done. Changkyun stops and leans against the recliner, pressing his forehead to the pleather of it, “I’m a fucking piece of trash, Hoseok.”

His roommate stares at his shorts, he had been working out when Changkyun had finally replied to him and thus he had been waiting for his return since he finished, “Why would you think that?”

Changkyun releases a loaded breath before he looks at Hoseok, “I really like that girl.” He lets his statement hang in the air knowing Hoseok would know who he was referring to. You had been the only girl he had even mentioned in months, had found himself enjoying your company more than any girl before you and there wasn’t even anything remotely sexual despite how often he tried to bait you and make his interest known. “So why did I sleep with another girl?”

Hoseok motions for Changkyun to take a seat and presses his elbows into his knees as he looks at his roommate. He would be damned if he agreed with what Changkyun just did, but despite that, he wasn’t tied down. Sure Changkyun had feelings for Jooheon’s friend, but it’s not like they were anything so what was with this dismay over having sex with someone that wasn’t her. Hoseok wasn’t even sure Changkyun was interested in girls for a long time; aside from the app which was just sexting. It is just enough detachment that he could push it from his mind. “Well, why did you?”

Changkyun held his head in his hands, “I don’t know, man. I was researching coding in the library while monitoring that chat and - I don’t know - I just.. I feel like shit. I shouldn’t have done it.”

“Then don’t do it again,” Hoseok frowns seeing the distress on Changkyun’s face when he finally lifts it. He doesn’t like the look on his friend, “You look like you could use a distraction while you think. Want to lift some weights?”

Changkyun stares around at the equipment aside from the couch and recliner in the room. They didn’t even have a TV which was considered prime entertainment especially if you had a Netflix subscription. He scrubs his hand over his face, “Well, as there’s no cliff to throw myself over,” he allows the morbid thought to leave his mouth, “I guess I’ll go change.”

“You’re being ridiculous,” Hoseok shouts at his back as he goes to change.

* * *

It’s Friday afternoon, the sky has opened up with a heavy downpour with a chance of possible flooding. Which meant, even though frats were still eager to entertain, those plans had literally been rained on as the campus locked itself away to brace for the storm. It was rather unfortunate that you had finally made it around to Jooheon’s apartment, snuggled up under Minhyuk’s fleece whale blanket while you were forced to watch the Discovery channel. You had come over to drop the notes and run, but like Minhyuk always did, had pulled you into his clutches and refused to release you. 

“Did you know blue whales are the largest animal to ever live?” 

You glance over at his awed face, not understanding the passion for the ocean-dwelling mammals. You just pulled the fleece up to your chin and reclined further into the cushions of the couch as he chatted. Minhyuk rarely needed feedback and easily plowed ahead.

“I’ve always liked listening to the Humpback Whale’s song, it’s rather soothing when you’re having trouble sleeping.”

The chime of the apartment door pulls your attention, both yours and Minhyuk, as Jooheon walks in. He’s soaked to the bone, water dripping off him incessantly, but it’s not only him that’s looking like a drowned rat. The girl from the fundraiser is on his arm, brushing back her drenched golden hair over one shoulder as she takes in the scene of the living area. You are covered with Minhyuk’s blanket and him laid out over the coffee-colored couch in shorts that showcased his whale tattoo on his knee. Jooheon seems frozen in place when he sees you sitting there.

You lick your lips before pushing Minhyuk’s blanket off of your body and standing. You push down your leggings that had risen while you sat on the couch and try your best to put yourself together as you approach the two, you felt out of place even though his eyes had never left you since they landed on you, “I, uh, brought back your notes. Minhyuk was telling me whale facts. I’ll leave.”

Minhyuk’s loud complaints are lodged at your back.

Jooheon’s arm has dropped from his sodden companion as you hand over the notebook that he had lent you the week before. You had felt bad having kept it so long, but you supposed with how horrible his note-taking was that it didn’t really matter whether he had the spiral or not. You did, however, fill in the new notes for him as a small gesture of thanks for him lending it to you in your time of need. When he takes it, he still seems shell-shocked by your appearance. “You didn’t have to return it,” he finally speaks.

You look down at your feet, naked toes digging into the plush tan carpet as you try to avoid his eyes, “Well, I couldn’t keep it. No matter how horrible the notes are.” 

Minhyuk has since stood and pulled you into a hug against him, his eyes digging into Jooheon as if begging him to say something, “Don’t leave. I was going to put in Free Willy after the rerun of the whale documentary.”

“Let Minhyuk’s friend stay,” the blond comments with a shrug, not reading the atmosphere clearly as she tries to drag Jooheon from the living area. 

He extracts his arm from her, “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming over?”

“I was going to just push the spiral under your mat,” you shrug, “But Minhyuk caught me as I was trying to leave. That’s the only reason I’m still here.”

“Did you think about it?”

Your eyes finally find him, then his neck that has returned to a blank slate, and you nod. You had thought about what was bothering you and it was still the fact that you had slept with the guy standing in front of you after you had sworn up and down that it would never happen. Had it really only been to spite ‘stale rice guy’ as your roommate still affectionately referred to him or was it because you had been wanting to for far longer than Jooheon had offered? 

“Come on, Joo,” the blonde pulled at his arm, “We still have to work on that project.”

He finally rounds on her, “Go ahead to my room, Monica. You can borrow some clothes if you want to.”

Monica looks between him and you before giving in. She had labeled herself as his project mate, but you had not been labeled and that seemed to irk the small girl. She obviously wanted something more, but you knew Jooheon was not one to offer anything more than he had already given. The main difference between you and Monica being that Jooheon had always shown an interest in you, but you had never tried to return it. 

When his bedroom door closes, he grabs your arm and pulls you from the apartment, his grip strong around your upper arm. “It’s not what it looks like,” he desperately tries to correct the incident you had just witnessed. 

You didn’t care about that, that was just something you had expected of Jooheon. You both had joked about it endlessly so why was this a cause for discussion now? You roll your arm and pull it from his hand, sure that there will be a bruise tomorrow - just one more thing caused by him you had to hide. “It’s whatever, I’m going to head back.”

“Don’t go,” he pleads, reaching for your hand.

You keep it from him, “You’re clearly busy and I’ve had enough of the whale jargon to last me until graduation. I think I’ve suffered enough, don’t you?”

“It’s pouring,” he complained, and as if to reinforce the fact, thunder rolled overhead.

“I’ll call an Uber,” you shrug, “Some of us use the brain attached to our body.”

Jooheon takes the hit to his ego in stride as he reaches for your hand again. You don’t fight him this time as he laces his fingers between yours and pulls you closer to his side, “What was bothering you the other day?” He stares into your eyes, noting how you try to avoid them as much as you can before finally just giving in, “I thought you would come by a lot sooner.”

“I was busy,” you rolled your eyes and pulled back from him, only able to go as far as his arm would allow you as he seemed to not care to let you go.

“I’m the one with the year-end project, and from what I heard, you sociology majors did your project earlier in the semester. So what were you busy with?”

You didn’t appreciate the bite in his voice, nor the fact that he seemed angry at you. The plan had been to drop his notebook off and return back to your apartment. Maybe even let Sooyeong convince you to dye your hair a color of her choosing, but instead, you had been at Minhyuk’s mercy and now Jooheon it seems. “I don’t owe you an explanation,” You finally whisper, tired from the unexpected events of the evening, so you withdraw your hand from his, “and I want to go to sleep.”

“You can use my bed, I can work on the project with Monica on the dining table.”

You shake your head and step back from him, “I want to sleep in my own bed,” you wave and turn, descending the stairs and leaving him there.

* * *

Changkyun was lying face down on his bed, the only thing covering him was the sweats he had used while lifting weights with Hoseok. He had given up on his absolute detest for himself, as most of his hate had been worked out the more weight that Hoseok had added to his bench press. That and the fact that he had finally been able to explain everything that was on his mind the past two hours that Hoseok tied him to their personal gym. Which, with an unsettling realization, meant he knew everything that Changkyun had been keeping to himself for the past few weeks or more. 

A knock against his door frame has him raising his head off his bed, “Hey, man, I’m gonna go get some noodles from that place off-campus. Did you want any?”

“Minh’s place?” Changkyun groans as he sits up and faces his roommate, “It’s amazing you are more muscle than fat, bro. That place is a trans fat paradise.”

“If my stomach is happy, I’m happy,” Hoseok rolls his neck, “Does that mean you don’t want anything?”

“Nah, I’m good. I’m just going to lay here for a few minutes more then shower and sleep. Enjoy that MSG though.”

It was almost two hours later when Hoseok returned to the apartment. He’s carrying a bag from Minh’s place, the food fragrancing the whole apartment while he moves around. Hoseok set the bag down before making his way to Changkyun’s room, “Are you asleep already?”

There’s no response so he turns and looks at the person who he had brought back with him. They always tell you not to bring home strays, wet strays being much worse, but he couldn’t just leave you wandering around the streets outside of campus. He runs his hand over his wet hair while he looks at you, “Uhm, you can shower first. I’m sure he won’t mind you grabbing some of his clothes. Just avoid the pile at the bottom of his closet, that’s the dirty stuff.”

You offer him a smile, “Are you sure this is okay? I don’t want to intrude. I haven’t really talked to Changkyun since the other day.”

“The sleepover, right?”

Your lips part in surprise, “He told you?”

Hoseok shrugs, checking the time of his smartwatch before looking back at you, “Only recently. Go ahead and shower and I’ll go after you. I want to eat those noodles before they get soggy - let me know if you need anything.”

“Thanks, Hoseok.”

Changkyun wakes to his room being shaken by the thunder from the storm still raging on outside. He probably would have been awake much sooner if it wasn’t for the body wrapped around him; he was always able to sleep better like this. His hand pushes back the soft hair that smells like his coconut shampoo, his eyes scan over your face, lifting his lips into a smile as he takes in the fact that you’re in one of the rare university shirts that he owned and had personally modified to fit in with his clothing aesthetic. He lets the hand that was brushing your hair run over the set of safety pins over your ribs that shows a sliver of skin beneath them. 

Your arms wrap tighter around him before you rub your face against his chest. The storm seemed to shift into a tropical depression overnight and it refused to move. Meaning the chances for flooding were no longer chances but a high possibility. The university had sent out an alert for students to stay home until the storm passes; meaning he could stay in bed all day and he didn’t mind it if that meant you would be there with him. You stir in his hold and pull back from him a moment later, “Morning.”

Changkyun rubs your arms, “Not that I’m upset, but how am I lucky enough to wake up with you in my bed? Am I dreaming? You know what, don’t tell me.” Your laugh is soft and short as you squeeze him once more, groan and try to pull his covers up over your head, which he doesn’t allow.

“Hoseok found me wandering around yesterday and brought me here. I didn’t even know you lived off-campus, let alone in such a good apartment complex. I feel cheated.”

“It’s Hoseok’s apartment,” Changkyun clarifies, wrapping his arms around you to keep you from escaping, “He might not look like it, but Hoseok comes from old money - _oh_ , and his dad is a highly respected police chief.”

“He told me I could borrow your clothes, I hope that’s okay.”

Changkyun rests his chin atop your head, pulling you in tight against him, “I’m perfectly okay with it, but you could’ve slept nude and I would’ve been fine with that as well.”

You push against his chest, smile firmly in place, “I’m sure you would’ve liked that.”

“Definitely,” he agrees while pressing a kiss to the crown of your head, “That aside, are you hungry? I have a feeling Hoseok didn’t offer anything for you to eat last night.”

“I heard that!” Hoseok’s voice comes from just outside the door.

Changkyun pulls away with a laugh to sit up and stare at his bedroom door, “Stop being an eavesdropping bitch then,” he sneers before hopping off the bed and pulling his sweats up over his hips. 

It’s then that you see the tattoo spanning the shoulder blades of Changkyun’s back. A beautiful rose pattern with words you don’t focus on enough to make out. You had never pegged him for a tattoo guy, but it looked nice. When he turns back to you, he has his phone in hand and seems to be replying to someone so you take your time getting up. Only minutely aware that if you weren’t so comfortable with Changkyun already, that you would be moving to steal some of his sweats as well instead of walking around with his shirt barely covering your waist. 

Changkyun catches the skin of your thighs and he lets his phone drop back to the top of his dresser as he takes in the sight, “ExcuSe ME MiSS,” he sounds nervous even to himself, “But you’re missing a pair of pants.”

You laugh even while tugging his shirt as low as it can go, which barely reaches the tops of your thighs, “Sorry! I just grabbed a random shirt!”

“______,” Hoseok calls from right next to Changkyun’s door again, “You didn’t happen to leave your clothes in the hamper in the bathroom did you?”

Your hand hits your face with a barely audible slap as you remember very clearly having just tossed them there when you finished the shower; habits, right? You move to the door and open it, Hoseok thrusting your clothes into your arms.

“I washed them with mine by accident, uhm, you’re not sensitive to any fragrance, right?”

You shake your head, all too aware of how his eyes glance down to your naked thighs before a smile becomes fixed on his face as he backs away. You pull your clothes to your chest as you watch him back away, “No, but thank you for washing them.”

He shrugs, “Changkyun throws his stuff in my hamper sometimes too. It’s no big.”

“It happened one time, Hoseok!” Changkyun complains, his chest pressing into your shoulder as he stares out into the hallway. 

“Still happened,” his roommate shot back, grinning as he continued on down the hallway. 

You back up back into the room, not waiting for him to close the door, as you slip back into your leggings while he watches. You’re waiting to see if he has something to say, but he just seems distracted by the act itself. However, you don’t really have the time to wait around. The rain has let up since Hoseok made his appearance and if you want to get back to your apartment before it starts pouring again; you need to move. “I’m going to head out.”

“Stay,” he frowns, stepping closer to you, “I don’t mind you being here.”

“I would, but I need to go make sure everything is okay at my apartment. Sooyeong texted me last night to say she was staying at her boyfriend’s place.”

“I can take you back. I’ll drive.”

You pull your shirt and bra against your chest with a lopsided smile, “I’ll be fine. I’ll even - wait, give me your number so I can text you when I get home.”

Changkyun watches you as you pull your phone from his bedside table, “If I refuse to give you my number, would you stay?” You give him a look and he sighs in defeat, grabbing your phone and swiping it, visibly worried when he realizes there’s no passcode. What kind of person didn’t use a passcode? He inputs his number and presses call, his phone vibrating across his dresser before he ends the call. As you reach for your phone, he lifts it over your head, “What if I don’t return your phone, would you stay then?”

“Changkyun,” you whine, jumping to try and take your phone back, “I need to check on my apartment.”

He leisurely returns it, sorrow replacing the good mood he’d been in when he woke up, “Fine, but please remember to text me.”


	5. Out for Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You flick the last meatball at him, laughing full-body when it hits him on the cheek and falls into his lap. The shock on his face is priceless as he looks down in time to see it roll off his lap and onto the floor under the table. You’re still laughing when he redirects his attention back to you and you can tell he is not amused by your childishness.
> 
> “You could have just said no,” he finally gets out while picking up a napkin to wipe off the excess sauce that sticks to his jeans and face. 
> 
> “No,” you stand and collect your shoulder bag, plucking your Sprite from the table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cross posted from [tumblr](https://xlilybebe.tumblr.com/tagged/ff%3A-i.messenger).

  


* * *

The BTS house is humid, the beats are loud and you’ve given up on being concerned over the amount of sweat covering your body. Jooheon didn’t seem to mind, his body glued to yours once he spotted you walk in, winding his hips against you as he held you against his chest. If you didn’t know him better, you would swear the kisses he was publically placing against your neck would be him trying to show the other college kids at the party that you belonged to him. But no, that’s not Jooheon’s style. You also supposed they could just be taken as something he did to all his girls - you wouldn’t put it past him.

His hand reaches up to brush your hair back, allowing his lips a place on your ear, “Did you really only come over the other day to deliver my notes?”

You turn to him, wrapping your arms around his neck, “I told you I would.”

Jooheon pulls you closer, his lips only millimeters from yours, “I can think of one thing I wouldn’t have minded you coming over to do that is a million times better than notes.” His dimples pop as he offers you a sultry smile, closing the distance between your lips.

Hyungwon injuring himself seems like the least of his worries now.

Hoseok had been right, he shouldn’t have come. If he had just trusted his roommate he wouldn’t have had to see you and Jooheon swapping bodily fluids while dancing. Part of him blamed karma, he had done something stupid and she (karma) was seeking revenge against him. The other part of him had set him up beside Hobi, the BTS frat brother who was deemed to manage the beer keg tonight. Thankfully he had been on good terms with most of the frats which gave him priority on refills. 

Hobi was catching on though, as he handed him his fifth refill of the first hour, “Something going on with you, man? You never drink this much at parties.”

Changkyun chugs the cup that had just been filled and stares up at the lanky dance major, his mind a mess, “Nah, just letting loose. You always say I should do it, so I am.”

Hobi shakes his head, working through the line of kids waiting for beer as he keeps his eye on Changkyun. Last party, Taehyung had said he was running for his life and this one seems to be a drastic step down as he drinks the night away. When the line dies down to only a few bodies, he looks Changkyun’s way again, noting the beer is hitting him pretty hard and he’s not fighting back, “Maybe you should head home. I can ask one of the new pledges to take you.”

Changkyun slides down the wall, offering his cup up to Hobi to refill, “Nah, man, I’m good. Just keep the beer coming.” He watches Hobi reluctantly refill his cup, his eyes drifting back to where you’re still dancing with Jooheon. You’re not facing Jooheon anymore, but the grip he has on your hips is possessive. He wished he felt as confident as his anonymous persona I.M who casually reached out to interested girls in need for some fun. 

It’s an hour or two later when Hoseok squats down in front of him, disappointed but not surprised as he grabs Changkyun’s arm and tries to lift him up. Changkyun gives him hell, slapping his hands away as he pulls at Hobi’s leg and beats his solo cup against his leg. Hoseok shakes his head and stands, hooking his hands under his roommate’s arms and hoisting him up before wrapping an arm around him, “I told you not to come.”

All he gets as a response is incoherent whines and more hands in his face as Changkyun tries once more to get away from him. Hoseok only gets him to the front porch before he pushes him down into one of the open wicker chairs and leans against the arm to prepare himself for the next big move. He eyes the front door to BTS’ home while his mind runs over how he made sure to wait until you and Jooheon left before he took his roommate home. Hoseok wasn’t sure he would be able to explain Changkyun’s inebriation without saying it was your or Jooheon’s fault - which would be worse if you happened to connect the reason why. He knew Changkyun would and he would never hear the end of it when he came to tomorrow.

“Who’s this?”

Hoseok’s eyes narrow into a glare as the girl he recognizes as Cha-Cha from I.Messenger sidles up to Changkyun. 

“What’s got him feeling down?”

Hoseok steps between her and Changkyun, “Nothing, I’m just taking him home. He was having a great day so he let loose; that’s all.” He can tell she doesn’t believe him, but he pulls Changkyun up again, relieved he doesn’t fight him on it as he pulls his roommate from the frat porch before she can probe anymore.

* * *

  
  
  


* * *

Hoseok catches up with Changkyun just in time to lean against the diner door, even though he knew enough about you to know that Wednesdays were your and Jooheon’s lunch date days. The whole campus could probably know if they cared to. His roommate pushes him, hoping to knock him off balance, but he stands steady with his arms crossed while he watches Changkyun’s mood deteriorate. “You’re not going in there,” he says with finality.

“Why the fuck not?!”

Hoseok shakes his head, Changkyun was currently in the hurt and angry stage of his broken heart and he couldn’t blame the kid for lashing out right now. Changkyun paces in front of him, steam billowing out of his ears figuratively, as he watches him. He’s quick to block Changkyun’s openings whenever someone asks to be let out with a strong arm until his roommate calms down enough to just stand there; his face a mask of hurt.

“Hoseok, I just want to talk to her. Please let me talk to her.”

He shakes his head, “We both know that’s not how it would end, Kyun.”

Changkyun squats down, burying his head into his knees as he tries to put himself back together. Hoseok had been there to contain him since the party and he appreciated him for that, but he also wished that he could just get one swing in. One would be enough to make him feel better, despite the crap Hoseok had been feeding him for the past few days. 

Hoseok crosses his ankles where he leans against the diner door, “Why don’t we go do something? I’m sure I can rally the guys together for paintball.”

Changkyun presses his palms against his knees as he stands, eyes showing more interest in his roommate than he’s had in days, “Do you really think you could get them to go for paintball?”

Hoseok shrugs, “Hyungwon and Kihyun are always down. Shownu would need an offer of meat and Chad we can just drag with us, but I refuse to be on his team again. He always gives us away so we end up losing.”

“I don’t care whose team he’s on, let’s go. I need to shoot things.” Changkyun turns and makes his way back towards the direction that would lead him to his and Hoseok’s off-campus apartment. 

Jooheon’s shoulders relax as he watches the skater boy walk away, whatever was going on in his head, Hoseok was keeping track of him. You were none the wiser, however, your back has been to the door the whole time. You were in the middle of complaining about the lack of activity from I.Messenger which was a 180 from the stance you had had the last time you brought up the messaging app. 

“I’m starting to understand the benefits of that app taking over the campus,” you state, rolling your fork in Jooheon’s noodles before shoving them into your mouth, “Who knew a day would come when I wished the app would ruin Professor Sander’s lecture?”

Jooheon smirks, “I could’ve distracted you if that was the problem.”

You capture one of his meatballs from his plate before pulling back the hair you had draped around your neck with purpose since last Friday, “I think you’ve caused me enough damage.”

He shrugs, watching you plop the meatball into your mouth. He may have left you more than a baker’s dozen of hickies up and down the column of your neck, but you were the one who had asked for it. Jooheon was nothing if not accommodating. It wasn’t in him to deny you, above anyone else, anything and he stood by that decision. He pushed his plate towards you as you go for another grab at his noodles, “You’re hungry today, or did you not want your chicken club? You could’ve texted me to change it.”

You stare down at the abandoned sandwich then back up to your friend, “I didn’t know what I wanted, but you always make the spaghetti look so good.”

“All that proves is that you’ve never seen me eat a bacon cheeseburger,” Jooheon laughs as you continue to devour his food, “Does this mean I get compensated for you stealing my food?”

You rest your fork, well Jooheon’s fork that you stole, in the noodles as you stare at him, “Depends on what you want, sir.”

“How do you feel about a few more rounds? I’m sure you have some skin I haven’t bruised yet.”

You flick the last meatball at him, laughing full-body when it hits him on the cheek and falls into his lap. The shock on his face is priceless as he looks down in time to see it roll off his lap and onto the floor under the table. You’re still laughing when he redirects his attention back to you and you can tell he is not amused by your childishness.

“You could have just said no,” he finally gets out while picking up a napkin to wipe off the excess sauce that sticks to his jeans and face. 

“No,” you stand and collect your shoulder bag, plucking your Sprite from the table. 

You’re almost to the Science building, in the middle of pulling your iPad out when you spot Changkyun moving with a crowd across the courtyard. The look on his face is hard like he hasn’t been having a good time since you last saw him; it has you shoving your iPad back into your bag and running to try and catch up with him. You are just at the back of the mass of them, pushing yourself more so you can make it to the front when a hand grabs your shoulder and slows you down. Hoseok is the one staring at you when you look for the hand’s owner.

“What are you doing here?”

His voice is barely above a whisper, so you give him the same volume, “What’s wrong with him?”

Hoseok pulls his backpack further up his shoulder, “What makes you think there’s something wrong?”

You stop, stopping Hoseok in your wake as you turn to him, “Please just tell me. He looks like he’s out for blood. Did something happen?”

He releases a breath, “He’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it. We’re going to relieve his stress right now.”

You check your phone, the vibration telling you that you have five minutes to make it to the Science building for your next class. Your eyes move to where Changkyun is still moving along with the group of guys, far ahead from where you stopped with Hoseok back down to your phone. You wished you could talk to him, but your need to pass this Deviance and Difference course for your major as it is pressing you into a corner. You chewed your lips, watching as your minutes ticked down one by one until you were forced into action. You turn and run back across the courtyard to the Science building; cursing yourself the whole way.


	6. "Friends"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “No date?”
> 
> Jooheon rolls his eyes, “You’re the one that made this members-only.”
> 
> Changkyun scoffs before finishing off his drink and leveling your friend with a glare, “I was hoping it would keep the trash out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crossposted from [tumblr](https://xlilybebe.tumblr.com/tagged/ff%3A-i.messenger).

The next few weeks fly by, any messages you shoot to Changkyun are left without a response, and the app you’ve gotten used to derailing your day has picked back up in full force. The creator sending out far more mass messages than he had just the week before. I.M has also been throwing on-campus parties that are arranged through the app - the parties almost more popular than the frats parties everyone used to gather at. That said, the parties hosted by I.Messenger were strictly members-only meaning you were free from being dragged to them by Sooyeong or even Jooheon. Not that it mattered to you, finals were coming around as the temperature dropped and snow-kissed the ground. You didn’t have the time nor want to party.

You pull your wool-lined coat closed around you as you make the long trip from the library back to your apartment. The campus was more of a ghost town now with the snow on the ground making students less interested in going out at night or at all. If you could avoid leaving the warmth of your bed or apartment, you would. The mist as you breathe out relaxes you as you watch it fall to the ground with each exhale; the distraction from the monotonous was welcomed.

High pitched giggles grab your attention, your eyes searching the breezeway for the owner of them. You find a girl and guy, the guy pressing the girl against the wall, and whatever he’s telling her seems to be the cause of the disruption of the quiet night. You pay them no mind, mildly concerned for their health as they stand out in the freezing cold, but press on nonetheless in hopes of saving your own health. There was no way you could miss any of your final exams this year; not that it’s ever been a problem before, but especially this year you couldn’t miss. 

You’re almost past them, the canoodling couple when you hear the deep voice of the guy and it tugs at your heart. You knew that voice well, even if its owner had been avoiding you like the plague for almost a month now. You debate turning around, reaching out to him, and asking him what you did wrong - but you can’t. Instead, you settle on a text and push forward, despite how badly you wished to stay. 

Changkyun’s head whips around left and right, he hadn’t expected another message from you since the messages had died down. He had been sure to take different routes and eat later in the night to avoid seeing you - sometimes not even eating dinner. He tried so hard, so very hard, to erase the pain in his heart from seeing you so comfortable with Jooheon and despite his best efforts, he still managed to find you one week with Jooheon; you both sporting matching hickies. He wasn’t even sure why you both had denied it so hard. He was a grown man, he wouldn’t have bothered if you had just said you weren’t interested in him. 

Regardless of all that, he still found his heart chasing after every mirage of you he found on campus. It bound him in constant betrayal as you were the only one that was able to get his heart to stir even after all this time. Your message from just now being a prime example. He had abandoned the girl he was with to chase after a ghost. You had seen him, seen him, and not approached him about how he had been treating you for the past month. He picked up his pace to a jog, head on a swivel as he ran down the breezeway in the direction of your apartment. His hands hit the cold metal of the lobby door, it was past hours so he wasn’t able to get in without a keycard that proved he lived there. 

Changkyun hadn’t even been blessed to see the back of your head or your legs as you climbed the staircase leading up to the second floor. No, you were gone. He throws his hands down on the metal door in frustration just to turn and sit down in front of it. He hated his heart for hammering at the close encounter or having the slightest bit of hope. He hated how he couldn’t bring himself to leave your complex because he wanted to see you and talk. Wasn’t he a sad individual?

* * *

**([click here to view larger image](https://64.media.tumblr.com/b8e093ca9e062f58f7eaa8fcc836d145/6f231655afb037b7-60/s1280x1800/d3b400d6110774d61ce4ae2dc9db12118f6c4490.png) )**

Your victorious grin feels amazing when Jooheon doesn’t send you another message. Even though you asked him that as a joke, you both knew that the question held real weight and you had made him aware that you were no longer going to be just another one of Jooheon’s girls. Everyone has their weak moments and that’s how he’d managed to get you the last time, but you’d made an effort to strike him down at every turn since. He was fun to hang out with and you enjoyed the nights you spent at his and Minhyuk’s apartment, but that was the end of it. Battering your heart for someone who would never take care of it was not a route you wanted to continue on.

Sooyeong pops into your room, a smile on her face as she squeezes you in her arms, “I’ll be hanging out with Jimin tonight. We wanted to have one last date before finals since we’re both heading home for the holiday. Do you want me to bring you back anything? We’re going to that Italian place you like, Giovanni’s Pasta.”

Your mouth waters at the mere mention of Giovanni’s Pasta, the Pasta alla Norma was a particular favorite of yours, not to mention the garlic breadsticks that put Olive Garden’s to shame. It was a hard blow, but you shake your head, “No, you two enjoy your last date. My stomach has been upset the past couple of days, so I’ll probably just make some chicken noodle soup and hit the hay. I have to be at my last final of the week at 6 am tomorrow and I want to make sure I get enough sleep.”

She rubs your back, a habit she had picked up since your falling out with Changkyun, “Well if you change your mind, you can always text me. You know Jimin doesn’t mind us waiting for your to-go order. It just gives us that much more time together.”

“I’m good,” you smile, giving her a hug before she leaves.

* * *

Hyungwon is spinning some heavy beats as the party carries on. Bright lights of varying colors cycle over the crowd of swaying bodies as he leads them to jump with the beat. The back of the dance area is set up with tables draped in black with drinks that glow under the black lights. Changkyun is sitting in a back corner, one roped off for the moderators of his app, as his eyes scan the crowd. Hobi was on his left, sipping down a bright green drink while his shoulders shimmied to the music. It was a mystery why he was still sitting. On his other side, Kihyun was singing along to the music while his fingers drummed on the table. 

The two had been flanked to his sides for the past month, Hobi probably because of his drinking stunt that had been a repeated offense and Kihyun who had a need to play mom now that he had fallen so low. Hoseok had been keeping his distance and when he did that, Changkyun had known he was hiding something. Curiosity ate at him, but he let his roommate have his secret in hopes that he would relax around him again, but to no avail. He hadn’t even shown up for the party tonight which was a new one even for Hoseok; he was always there to have fun. 

Changkyun sighed, picking up the bright orange drink in front of him to take a large gulp. His eyes racing over the crowd had nothing to do with boredom and everything to do with you. I.Messenger had grown substantially now that finals week was in full swing and part of him hoped that meant you would finally give in despite your aversion for it. Every time a new user would introduce themselves in the open chat he would pay close attention in hopes when they said who they were that your name would come up; instead, he had grown used to disappointment. 

His eyes landed on one person, in particular, he was never able to avoid just outside the roped-off area. Your friend Jooheon was glaring at him from outside the line, hands clenching the rope as he leaned over making it clear it was Changkyun he was after. Kihyun is moving to stand, ever the active one to push people back, but Changkyun presses him back into his chair as he stands and approaches your friend. He sips his drink while staring at Jooheon, a brow raised as he wonders what the other guy could possibly have to say to him. “No date?”

Jooheon rolls his eyes, “You’re the one that made this members-only.”

Changkyun scoffs before finishing off his drink and leveling your friend with a glare, “I was hoping it would keep the trash out.”

Jooheon’s shoulders square with tension, his tongue poking into his cheek, “It’s funny how they prefer the trash over someone so high and mighty.”

Changkyun claims the distance between them, his face so far in Jooheon’s face he’s sure the other guy can smell the alcohol on his breath, “Or maybe the trash follows her around wherever she goes that she takes pity on it in hopes it will give up one day.”

Jooheon’s glare hardens, but he refuses to back away and give Changkyun the satisfaction. He chews his cheek, only stepping back when a hand slaps him on the shoulder. Minhyuk appears next to him, very tipsy, with a smile that reaches way past his ears as he sways on his feet, “I have to admit, joining this app was weird at first, Joo, but this party is great. Hyungwon has skills.”

“I’ll make sure to tell him you think so,” Changkyun hums.

Minhyuk giggles, his drink sloshing everywhere as he tries to get Jooheon to dance with him to the heavy beats encompassing the hall. He’s spewing some story that Jooheon seems to have heard a million times before as he tries to call the other guy’s attention to him. 

“So where is she?” Changkyun crosses his arms over his chest, tapping the empty glass he holds against the crook of his arm. “Or are you going to lie and say you don’t know?”

Minhyuk rolls his eyes, clearly not interested in the cockfight as he turns and wiggles his lanky body back into the crowd of bodies on the dance floor. It leaves Jooheon to focus, the distraction of his roommate gone, “Maybe she was in my room when I left,” he raises his shoulders and throws his hands open, “Maybe I left her in her bed.”

Changkyun rolls his eyes, hand lifting in a gesture that looks just like a wave but the campus police show up at his side, “Mr. Lee has had a bit too much. Maybe you could escort him home?”

Jooheon laughs, shifting out of reach as the cops flank his sides, “Really? You’re throwing me out?”

“You lied,” Changkyun shrugs and leans in once more, “Your roommate told me earlier that she hasn’t been around for a couple of weeks. Sure, you could’ve met her at her place, but your bad mood when you came in tells me she turned you down today.”

Anger burns red hot in Jooheon’s chest, “You don’t know shit,” he growls and throws his fist at Changkyun’s face. He misses, but the cops grab him and pull him back either way. “Man, let me go,” he yells, struggling in their hold as he continues to glare at Changkyun. Hobi, their mutual acquaintance moves forward and stands next to them with confusion etched into his face.

“What’s going on? Joo, man, calm down. You don’t have to cause a scene.”

Changkyun turns to his friend, “I’m gonna dip out. Make sure there’s no more trouble tonight, hm?” He doesn’t wait for Hobi to agree, he turns and sets his glass down on the table, pausing enough to shoot a wink to Kihyun before he heads off. The pounding bass slowly dissipates the farther away he gets.

* * *

You hook your hands on the edge of your desk and push back, groaning happily when your back pops from hours of sitting in the same chair. Even with you telling Sooyeong not to buy you anything, she still managed to return back with a whole basket full of garlic breadsticks for you to munch on claiming they were neutral enough for your upset stomach. They had been a welcomed break when she brought them in, but the conversation that joined them had your stomach-churning. 

Sooyeong’s voice is clear, even with her having barely whispered it, “Have you talked to him? Stale rice guy?”

“Changkyun,” you finally give up and correct her, from when you brought him home that first time and she caught him painting your nails. You didn’t understand her need to keep him at arm’s length, “and no. I haven’t tried since I saw him on my way home from the library the other day.”

“Jimin says he hasn’t been himself,” she explained while leaning forward to touch your knee when you turned to face her, “Are you sure you don’t remember anything?”

“I really don’t,” you frown, pulling one of the breadsticks from the paper wrap she had handed you, taking a bite while your mind repeats the same thing that happened at Changkyun’s apartment the night you stayed over during the storm, “I mean, I left because you told me you were staying with Jimin, but I wanted to make sure everything was okay at our apartment. When there was a break in the storm; I went home. I forgot to call him to say I made it home ok, but that’s hardly a reason for him to be pissed at me.”

“I guess that’s true,” she agrees, leaning back as she looks around your room. You weren’t sure what she saw, but you knew what you saw. Your room wasn’t as put together as it used to be. You had gotten a bit laxer at keeping your room tidy, laundry piling up in the corner when you used to do it every week. Maybe she knew that and being your best friend, she ignored it just like you did, pushing herself up off the bed and rubbing your head, “Don’t stay up too late. It’s almost eleven.”

That had been two hours ago and you still hadn’t been able to sleep. There comes a time for you, when a certain hour is reached, that you cut your loss and decide to just go for the long haul. You had one, maybe two, more hours when that time would be here and you would march into the kitchen to throw on a pot of coffee. The mindless studying is disturbed by your phone vibrating over your desk. You had half a mind to ignore it, the high chance that it was Jooheon drunk off his ass and horny was very likely. 

However, the name on the screen was ‘Stale Rice Guy’, the name Changkyun had set for himself when he’d given you his phone number that morning you’d stayed at his place.

You stare at the messages, closeout of his conversation, and reopen it. It was not an illusion. Changkyun really had texted you after a month of nothing.

You breathe out and stand up before wrapping a puffy jacket around your frame.

You roll your eyes, lock your phone and descend the stairs next to your apartment door. The blonde hair pressed against the complex’s door is indisputably Changkyun, the hoodie he wears is black in the majority, but the hood itself is slate gray. When he turns, the left corner is covered with a sad/happy face that you recognize from the same face tattooed on his wrist. You push open the door and let him in, making sure it closes before turning to him, “What did you need to talk about?”

Changkyun offers his hand, the feeling of the gesture is familiar to the point you’re sliding your hand into his without giving it another thought. He leads you back up the stairs into your apartment and locks the door behind you both before pulling you into your bedroom. His grip on your hand leaves as he takes space on your bed, rubbing his hands up and down his thighs, “Is that plant new?”

It forces your eyes to change to your desk, the succulent that you had bought to give you something to take care of, “Yeah, it is,” you shrug and sit back in your desk chair. The distance keeps you from expecting the worse as if it’s a mental veil to keep you from whatever truth he could slap you with. 

Changkyun watches you, the uncertainty over the situation plain as day on your face even as you push the chair as far back as you can to expand the distance. The pinch in his heart reminds him this is his fault, he made you feel this way. Instead of trying to bridge that gap, he holds out his hand, “What color were you thinking? Pine, Royal blue, or we could always use black again. That color looked good on you last time too.”

“Why are you here?”

Changkyun tuts, “I promised I would paint your nails,” he hums and stands, moving to your desk drawer where he knows that you keep all your nail polish. “Well, I am disappointed,” he complains, pulling out a bottle of polish, “Is this bombshell red?”

You grab the bottle and toss it back into the drawer, “Yeah, and?”

“You’re telling me that you had me paint your nails matte black when I could’ve painted them bombshell red? Dishonor,” he complains.

The smirk on his face doesn’t fool you as he continues to push around the bottles in the drawer. His hand keeps returning to the red and you sigh, “Just use whatever color you want. I have to sleep sometime tonight.”

Changkyun snatches the red bottle up and drops down to his butt in front of you as he eyes your toes. He had kind of hoped to see some remnants from his previous paint job, but you were thorough; he should have known that from before. Or at least remembered it. “Hand me the bottom coat,” he commands, working himself up to the conversation he’s been avoiding for a month now.

You hand him the bottom coat as he lifts your right foot to his knee, “I’m surprised you’re not at the party. Most of the campus is there.”

“I was there earlier,” he shrugs, beginning the work that was more calming for him than it probably was for you, “It was okay.” He’s careful with the bottom coat, even with no color, he wanted to prove he could do a much better job than the first time he painted your nails. 

“How come you never replied to me?”

Changkyun turns and picks up your left foot, placing it on his other knee so he can apply the bottom coat there as well and allow the right foot time to dry, “I got upset.”

“Because I forgot to text you that I made it home?”

“Because I saw you and Jooheon making out at the BTS party later that week.” He closes the bottom coat and blows air on your toes, inadvertently giving him a reprieve from having to face you. “It’s stupid, I know, we’re friends - at least I thought we are - and then I go and get upset over you making out with some guy. I didn’t understand why at first, well no I guess that’s a lie, I knew.”

You lean forward, watching as he opens the bottle of bombshell red, hand a little shaky as he starts, “Knew what?”

Changkyun looks up, eyes widening when he sees how close your face and he gulps. He breaks the eye contact to make sure the bombshell red wasn’t dripping all over your foot or worse, his pants. “That I like you. H-hanging out with you, I mean,” he coughs.

You hum, “I like hanging out with you too. You didn’t have to avoid me if you didn’t like Jooheon. You could’ve just told me.”

He looks up at you again when he finishes the first coat on your right foot, “We were just getting close. Isn’t it weird that I didn’t want to be around whatever he is to you? I didn’t want you to cut me off.”

You grab his cheeks, “I would not abandon you just because you don’t like Jooheon. Lots of people don’t like him; mostly girls. We’re friends and if he makes you uncomfortable, that’s all I need to know.”

Changkyun grins, pulling his face from your hands to start the second foot on bombshell red. He had choked, but at least you knew why he was upset and were willing to work with him on it. He wipes a rogue splash of red off your pinky toe before he looks back and forth between both feet, “Does that mean I could ask for more of your time?” He chances a glance up at you to catch you nodding before voicing your answer.

“Of course, I mean, I planned to head home for the winter holidays, but we could easily meet up if that is something you want to do.”

Changkyun licks his lips, “You’re leaving campus?”

Another nod.

“How far is your home from campus?”

“A few hours,” you frown as you watch him retreat from facing you to start the second coat of nail polish. Your hand finds his blonde locks and ruffles them, “Are you going back home for the holidays?”

“I haven’t been home since I started university,” he leans into your hand as you start massaging his head, “My dad was very supportive of me when I was growing up until I told him I wanted to be an app maker. He says I’ll make more money if I were to work at a fast-food joint. I haven’t been back since.”

You watch Changkyun as he keeps avoiding you, his focus on painting your nails unbreakable. He didn’t have to share his home life with you, especially since you could see it still bothered him, but he did and you couldn’t help but appreciate him more for it. The thought hit you, slowly as a vague whisper, and spread bigger as you watched him. “You could come with me? It’s really just my sister and me, but if you want to get away from campus I’m sure she won’t mind having you.”

He finishes the second coat on your right foot before he looks up at you, “Are you sure?” Changkyun starts on your left foot, his strokes slow and hesitant as he tries not to prepare himself to be let down. You could easily tell him nevermind, but his hope was for a happier result. He licks his lips as he hunkers down on finishing the second coat on your left foot.

“Yeah, totally, unless you aren’t interested.”

The deep chuckle that comes from him as he pins you down with his gaze is making you try to repress the squirm your body is doing without your knowledge, “When do we leave? Do you take a plane?”

“Train, actually,” you smile as he carefully roots around in your open desk drawer for the topcoat. When you lift your feet to give him more movement, he grabs your ankles and places them back down on his knees before continuing his search. You eventually grab it for him and hand it over, “Speaking of, you probably would have to book your ticket sometimes today. They go pretty fast around the university’s winter holiday.”

Changkyun leans back, shaking his blonde hair from his eyes while he tries to figure out when would be a good time to buy a train ticket. He’d never ridden on a train before, at least nothing different from the subway when he would visit Seoul back when he was younger. His face must look as confused as he feels because you laugh, “Did you want me to help you buy one?” He offers a laugh of his own, licking his lips as he shuffles his hair out of his face once more, “Am I that easy to read?”

You nod, shifting in the chair, feeling uncomfortable after having been sitting in it for so long now, “I can meet you in the diner after my exam later. Do you have one?”

He shakes his head, eyes drifting down to review his work and debate if he should try another layer of bombshell red. “I finished most of my testing the first week. The professors granted me permission to test earlier than my assigned class time as I requested.”

You hit his shoulder with your leg, “You tested early with no plans to go home?”

Changkyun hates the weak smile he shows before sniffing and leaning down towards your painted toes, “Just because I haven’t been home doesn’t mean I don’t wait for my parents to offer for me to go home. It’s probably for the best, they live in the States and it would take longer to go there and come back than the break.”

Your heart breaks a little from the cracks in Changkyun’s own heart. In comparison, your home life was a lot happier than his. You had been a late addition to your parent’s lives and your sister’s by consequence. Your parents had had you in their early fifties, so your sister was considerably much older than you and at times felt more like your mom than you could remember your mom being. Maybe it was raising you as she went through college that had left your sister unsatisfied with taking on any relationships, but you always hoped one time when you returned home she would have someone over to greet you. 

He avoids your eyes, his own getting watery as he screws shut the bottle of bombshell red to pick up the topcoat; shaking it for a lot longer than he needed to. When he started applying the polish, he kept having to take breaks to relax his hand as it would start shaking every time he thought about his family back home. He missed his mother so much around the holidays and it hurt remembering all the Christmas presents he hadn’t felt enough courage to send her sitting back in his room in Hoseok’s apartment. The top shelf of his closet was the presents he inevitably bought for her, wrapped and placed there every year. Who knew how many sat up there awaiting their owner. 

You startle when the first warm tear hits your foot. You reach down and pluck the topcoat from Changkyun’s fingers to screw the lid shut and pull him into your arms. His arms wrap around your back, pushing his face into your left thigh as he sobs. You hold his head in your hands as you stroke your fingers through his hair, leaning down to wipe away his tears when you can. You wonder how long he’s been holding back from crying as you let one of your hands fall to rub along his back. He had always seemed so confident, you remember how he had thrust himself into your life, that you would have never thought you would see him crying like this - but even you could understand missing your parents. Missing your home. 

He sniffles, wiping at his eyes as he finally lets you go. His face is red from how his hands try to take away his own tears and you reach out to stop him before he can rub his cheeks raw. Your hands shift to find purchase on his ears as you look down at him waiting for him to look up at you before you press a kiss to his forehead. 

You give him what you hope is a warm smile, “I am going to go make some coffee, do you want any?”

Changkyun stares at you for a moment, the feeling of your lips against his forehead still there as he finally shakes his head, “I have to sleep sometime before I meet you at the diner.” He scoots back to give you room to stand, embarrassment keeping his eyes on your toes when you finally do stand.

You put the balls of your feet in the air as you hop around him, careful not to ruin all his hard work. It pulls a laugh from him as you waddle to the kitchen to throw some ground up coffee beans and water into the coffee maker before making your way back to your room to stop outside of your bedroom door, “You know, you could always just sleep here. I don’t think Sooyeong would care.”

He twists his body at the sound of your voice, still silently swiping at the tears trying to leave his eyes with renewed vigor, “I don’t know,” he hums, “She seemed very interested in my dick game the last time I slept over. I’m afraid I’ll wake up with her undressing me.”

You laugh, fondness for his cute antics filling you, “I think Jimin would have something to say to that,” you counter, clasping your hands in front of you, “He doesn’t like to share.”

“I don’t either,” Changkyun admits as he pushes himself up off the floor before standing in front of you, his face tilted down to stare into your eyes, “Do you think your sister would mind me stealing you while you’re there for the holidays?” 

“I doubt she would mind,” you shrug, grabbing for his hand to pull him behind you as you waddle back to the kitchen; still unsure how dry your nails are. You let his hand go to grab your Jack Skellington mug shaped like the skeleton’s head from the drying rack next to the sink and place it next to the coffee maker. You move around the kitchen to pull out the cream for your coffee knowing how amused your guest is watching you hop around. When the dripper slows to a stop, you fill your cup with the steaming liquid before adding a dash of creamer, your hand reaching out for a spoon before you spin to find him just behind you. The hot liquid spills over the ledge and you frown, taking the finger into your mouth as you watch him watch you.

“Are you sure you’re okay with me staying? I feel like you get hurt more from me being around you than normal.”

You shake the finger that had been scalded by your coffee before wrapping your hand back around your Jack cup and lift it to your lips; not wanting to give a comment to his observation. 

Changkyun presses forward, however, to pin you to the counter by the sink behind you, “Though I do like that I make you nervous,” his grin makes you flustered, that much he can tell. He dips his head to press his lips against your coffee-flavored ones, one of his hands breaking his cage of you to pull you by your neck forward into the kiss as he hums against your lips. His tongue darts out to get some more of the bittersweet flavor to which you open your mouth to give him access as he enjoys the taste of your tongue. When he pulls back from the kiss, you chase his lips and he smiles before tapping your nose with his finger, “Careful, princess, or you will spill your coffee.”

You pout, but lean back against the counter as you drink your coffee down. The clock above the stove reads that it’s 5 AM and you frown at the annoying green readout; if you didn’t have to be to your lecture hall to attend your last test before winter break, you would make Changkyun regret teasing you like that. As it was, you did have a test prefaced by a shower and his teasing antics were just going to have to simmer on the back burner while you tried to cope with your last exam. 

* * *

  


* * *

You push open your apartment door, one arm weighed down by the bag you had carried with all your notes from the semester to binge study before the exam began, and the other carrying McDonald’s as you shoulder the door closed. You take both bags straight to your bedroom, nudging open the door with your foot just to drop your bag full of notes on the ground by the door. When you look at your bed, Changkyun is a starfish, head buried deep into your pillow beneath his head. You wonder how long he was actually able to sleep as you drop down next to him on the right side of the bed, poking his butt with your empty hand, “I brought back McDonald’s,” you swirl the bag around in front of his face hoping the scent alone would wake him up as if he was Scooby with Scooby Snax. 

Changkyun frowns and buries his face deeper into your pillow, his arms moving up to cling to the pillow beneath his head. He feels you poke his butt once more and he groans while pushing himself up off your bed to stare over at you, “What?”

You smile, reaching into the bag to hand him a sausage muffin, “Breakfast.”

He accepts the offered food, turning to cross his legs over atop each other as he peels away the wrapping. You watch him take a bite while pulling out your own sausage muffin and a hashbrown, which already earns you a look of wrath as he zeros in on the fried potato cake. He’s absolutely past fuming when you slide the hashbrown into the sausage muffin before taking a bite of your sandwich, only looking at him when he growls. “What? There’s like three more in the bag.”

Changkyun grabs the bag, blinded by his want for his own hashbrown that he doesn’t even notice that there should be more weight to the bag if there was, indeed, any hashbrowns in it; let alone three extras. He hadn’t even noticed how fast you had started eating your sandwich once he finally looked in the bag and found it empty. He crumpled the bag in outrage, tossing the bag across the room to find that you’re down to the last bite of your sandwich. He grabs your wrist as you lift it to your mouth, stopping it from making it to the destination, to lean forward and engulf the bite with his own mouth. 

“Feel better?” you laugh, watching as he enjoys the last bite.

He shakes his head automatically, frowning, “I feel cheated.”

You shrug, leaning back with your hands against your mattress as you stick your tongue out at him. He had started this war this morning when he wouldn’t give you another kiss. You refuse to give him much attention, pulling your phone out to search up a train ticket for him as you had promised to do last night. You scroll up and down the tickets, still refusing to accept his attention as you smack your lips and give up to hold the phone out to him so that he is able to pick out his own ticket. It didn’t make sense for you to pick it for him. 

Changkyun takes your phone much as he had at his apartment, his eyes scanning over the screen as his thumb flicks the page up and down while eyeing the different available tickets. “You just got a regular ticket, right? You didn’t reserve a compartment?”

“I cannot afford to do that,” you laugh, watching him pout.

His eyes make their way over to you, “How about I just drive us? It’s not that far and going by train takes longer.”

“I would if I hadn’t already ordered my ticket.”

Changkyun glares down at the screen and the cost of the regular ticket, “I can always just give you the money for the ticket, it’s not that much.” 

You raise a brow at how he thinks so little of how the amount that is absolutely a lot to you before you frown while staring up at him, your foot hitting his thigh, “Wouldn’t you get bored being locked in a car with me for more than an hour?”

He hums, locking your phone before staring over at you, the things going through his mind are crossing his face before he shrugs and leans towards you. With a shake of his head, he denies your claim, “You’re honestly one of the only people I can stand to be around lately. My friends see me as a ticking time bomb and Hoseok hasn’t talked to me since the other day.”

“I’m heading out,” Sooyeong’s voice calls from the hallway, earning both of your eyes, “Oh.”

Changkyun ruffles his blonde hair and lifts his hand, “Hey Sooyeong.” She seems tense as she stares at him, her gaze morphing into a threatening glare as she crosses her arms over her chest. Had he ever mentioned she scared him? Just a bit? He licks his lips nervously, the once good graces he had with your best friend seemed to have disappeared.

“Stale rice guy,” she quips.

You frown at her, “I told you his name is Changkyun, Soo,” you complain even though he doesn’t seem to mind the nickname. 

Changkyun grips your thigh, only just enough to be distracted by the fact that you were wearing a skirt that he misses Sooyeong retrieving her bag from the floor. She doesn’t seem too keen on greeting him outside of the nickname she had originally bestowed him with affectionately. She doesn’t even say goodbye when she leaves.

“Don’t worry about Soo, she always gets tense before going home,” you shrug, hands full with the trash from the McDonald’s you had brought. He took the empty bag from you and crunched it up even more in his hands as he eyed you.

“I booked my train ticket before I passed out earlier,” he explains as he walks the ball in his hands to the trash can in the kitchen. When he tosses it in, you’re right there next to him, “We’re leaving later tonight?”

You nod, staring up at him, “I need to pack and I assume you do too.”

“Obviously,” he grins, reaching out to push your hair out of your face, “Should I pick you up around 7?”

That’s when it hits you, “You’re leaving now?”

His hand moves to your chin, a small smile on his lips, “It’s almost noon,” he sighs, “I should probably do some laundry since I forgot over the weekend. I’ll meet you outside your place at 7, okay?”

You pout but nod, “Yeah, sure, I should do laundry too.”

Changkyun doesn’t agree, just pulls you by the back of your neck to place a kiss on your lips. It’s frustratingly short even by his thoughts, but if he stays much longer he would just stay there the whole day. He had a few things he wanted to do before he accompanied you back home including his laundry, so he frowns and pulls away in his effort to leave.


End file.
